Kenya Engineer Journal, July-August

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Pg 7,52

Pg 17

Cover Story

Pg 24 Pg 56

CONTENTS

4 KENYA ENGINEER - JULY / AUGUST 2012

CONTENTS

News.........................................1-43Pictorial...................................44-45Conference..............................46-51Local Contractors....................52-53Piezoelectricity........................54-55ESA..........................................56-57EBK..........................................58-59ACEK............................................60Dinner Dance...............................61IEK................................................62

Pg 54 Pg 46

Pg 61

Cor respondence shou ld be addressed to the Institution. Kenya Engineer is published every two months. Views expressed in this Journal are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institution.

I t has been an important season for the Engineers practitioners following the successful completion of The International Engineers Conference dubbed ‘The role of Engineers Practioners in the implimentation of the New Costitution’ and The Engineers General assembly in Nairobi. Get the insights of these important

events in the Engineers’ calender in this issue of the Kenya Engineer Magazine.

Change of guard at the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK). Three ladies made it to the council, Rosemary Kungu, Christine Ogut & Jane Mutilili.

Read on to excerpts of The Engineers Act 2011 that is now in force . There shall be no room for quacks in the profession. Engineers Board of Kenya has been empowered by the act and shall enter and inspect sites where construction, installation, erection, alteration, renovation , maintenance, processing or manufacturing works are in progress for purposes of verifying that profession engineering services are carried out by registered persons under the act.

The exciting oil discovery , Tullow oil prospecting for oil in Nyanza. The progress on the oil frontline, Ngamia 1, Turkana County and offshore drilling by Pancontinental oil. Tullow oil says there is more oil deposit at Ngamia 1.

Infrastructure: 19th bearth to be built at Mombasa port. Hydropower Plant to be built in Garissa and KenGen to build a gas power plant.

Enjoy your read!

Next issue will be out on September 1st

JULY / AUGUST 2012Editor’s NoteA Definitive Publication of Engineers in East Africa & Beyond

Mac

©Copyright: Reproduction of any article in part or in full is strictly prohibited without written permission from the Institution of Engineers of Kenya.

Editorial Committee:A A McCorkindale – ChairmanF W Ngokonyo - Vice-ChairmanN O BookerJ N KariukiProf M KashordaS M NgareAllan MuhaliaA W OtsienoS K KibeM Majiwa

Editorial Assistants:Peninah NjakweStephanie Haan

Editors:Articulate Edits

Design & Layout:Alex Ireri

Sales & Marketing:Roseline OkayoJoyce Ndamaiyu

EDITORS NOTE

Published by:

P O Box 45754-00100 NairobiTel: 4443649/50/72,Cell: 0719 207 712Fax: 4443650Email: [email protected]/[email protected]

KENYA ENGINEER - JULY / AUGUST 2012 5

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Kenya is in the process of i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e n e w constitution and its within this backdrop that the Conference

Committee under the chairmanship of Eng. D M Wanjau coined the theme ‘The role of Engineering Practitioners in the implementation of the constitution’. This will be made possible through the leadership offered by the members of the profession in their respective position within Goverment and by practice, a good example is a clause within the constitution guaranteeing food security for all kenyans.This years annual International Engineers Conference was held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre Nairobi Kenya on 9th to 11th of May 2012 under the auspices of Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK). Mabati Rolling Mills (MRM) the gold sponsor had opportunity to demonstrate their long association with engineering products and most outstanding was MRM’s role in building affordable and sustainable housing for Kenyans through their innovative products.

The Prime Minister’s address to the conferenceThe guest of honour at the opening ceremony was the prime minister of the

Republic of Kenya Raila Amolo Odinga, in his speech that was delivered by Mr. Charles Irungu he appreciated the efforts that the engineers have placed in terms of developing the country’s roads infrastructure, energy sector , water sector and most importantly reminded the delegates of the task a head, achieving of the vision 2030.The premier acknowledged that the participants will have the opportunity to discuss a number of issues relating to devolved government, key among them: Enabling Policy Legislative and Regulatory Framework, County government models for infrastructure, Challenges of provision of infrastructure, Capacity building, Finance, procurement and contracting.He appreciated that the presentations and discussions will be geared towards providing an opportunity to dialogue on the devolved government arrangements and more important ly to create awareness amongst the Engineers on developments on this very important method of delivering public services.He re-emphasized the critical role of Engineers in ensuring service delivery under the County Governments. He then observed that engineering is one of the fundamental skill resources for the sustainable development of a country.

Poor engineering wastes money, is detrimental to the environment, can limit livelihood opportunities and may well lead to considerable loss of life. Effective engineering makes good use of resources, provides the services that assist people to meet their livelihood needs, helps provide better health and safety and contributes fundamentally to the creation of wealth and the reduction of poverty. Sustainable Development can only be met if the principles of Sustainable Engineering are adhered to. This calls for striving for appropriate, affordable and Sustainable engineering services and infrastructure within the local environment. This will in turn necessitates the development and maintenance of indigenous scientific and technological skills and expertise supported and facilitated by the key stakeholders including government, private enterprise, academic and professional structures.Under the County government, the Engineers will be expected to prepare feasibility studies for projects, and while doing so, come up with the most appropriate technical solutions. We must all understand that a solution to infrastructure service must first be technically feasible before it can be tested for financial and economic viability as

Engineers International Conference 2012: Engineers Taking Lead in the Constitution Implementation By Booker Ngesa Omole & Peninah Njuguna Njakwe

Engineer DM Wanjau Chairman IEK (2nd left) presents honorary membership to the Roads Minister Franklin Bett (centre). The PS Roads SM Kamau ( 2nd Right), Incoming Chairman Julius Riungu (far left) & Honorary secretary Mwanzali Shiribwa (Far right).

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well as environmental sustainability. Raising capital to finance much needed infrastructure projects in 47 counties, shall remain the greatest challenge as this requires an effective enabling environment. The Kenya government has worked towards providing this enabling environment by having a strong political will, robust legal and institutional framework as well as strengthening public sector capabilities to effectively handle devolved government successfully.You will realize that for successful implementation of Constitution there is a dire need to develop holistically our domestic capacity to be able to finance, design, build and operate infrastructure facilities and services. As you are aware, the promulgated constitution is calling for heavy sacrifices and therefore human resource capacity is a critical ingredient in delivery of services. Skills and capabilities will be required in areas of development, preparation of infrastructural projects, assessment of fiscal costs and risks, design and execution of projects, oversight and contract management amongst others. The professionals involved in the preparation

of service delivery mechanisms including Engineers will need to acquire new skills to be able to cope with these challenges. Engineers are known the world over to be very innovative and are at the centre of inventions, harnessing and wealthcreation. Indeed, it is said that our great profession is charged by society with modifying the natural environment, through the design and manufacture of artifacts. We serve mankind by making dreams come true. While there has been a lot of enthusiasm on devolved government for the Kenyan people to realize their potential; taking cognizance of geographical, vast resources, physical, financial capacity and cultural diversity of our Nation, there are issues to be addressed coupled with lack of awareness on the concepts and basic principles on the same by both public and private sector participants. This conference therefore offers the greatest opportunity to create awareness amongst the Engineers and the members of public. I thank the Engineering fraternity for being the amongst the professional bodies to organize and host a well publicized conference on

this subject. This will go a long way in harnessing the natural resources for the benefit of mankind. The prime minister in his speech mentioned the Vision 2030 flagship projects, he singled out the recently LAPSSET corridor that was lauched by His Excellency Mwai Kibaki. Lamu Port-South Sudan -Ethiopia (LAPSSET) Project is huge and quite strategic for the not only the country’s economy but also for the whole of East Africa region he continued. It will see a 32 birth port in Lamu, an oil pipeline from Juba to Lamu, an oil refinery at Lamu, resort cities among others.Other invited guests included Minister of roads Mr. Franklin Bett Minister for public Works Mr. Chris Obure, Minister for Public Service Mr. Dalmas Otieno, Chairperson of the Constitution Implementation Committee (CIC) Mr.Charles Nyachae.The minister for roads used the same occasion to sound a warning to those that had grabbed land on the road reserve and the he will soon implement a cabinet decision to have the building brought down particularly in Mlolongo. Mr. Charles Nyachae advised the

Hon. Franklin Bett receiving an honorary membership award from IEK

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engineers to involve his office to make sure that the new engineers act was in tandem with the new constitution.

The Outgoing chairman, Eng D M Wanjau keynote address : Addressing the opening session he welcomed the chief guest and all present. He looked forward for a fruitful discussion on the role of the engineers practitioners in the implementation of the new kenyan constitution. He informed the minister who doubled up as the chief guest that the Institution was established in 1973 with an initial membership of 180 in all disciplines and today the membership has grown to over 5,000. ‘They are the source of our strength and indeed they conduct our reputation and Vitality’ he remarked.The chairman concluded by making an appeal to the kenyan government to support training of young graduate engineers to reach registrable or professional status and to use the Institutional Experience as a partner to policy formulation and sustainable development. He further asked the government to involve the expertise and

the knowledge of the local engineers in major government projects.

Eng Franklin Bett, Minister roads address:Permanent secretary and Chairman of the Engineers Registration Board Address , Eng. S M KamauThe PS reiterated the importance to adhere to the new engineers act 2011 and passed special thanks to the office of the Prime Minister, the Minister of roads and all the stakeholders that made it possible to be integrated into law . He emphasized that the act will help eliminate the quacks from the profession.The PS said the new constitution has thrust the building and construction industry into the limelight because of the urgent need to put in place the physical infrastructure, buildings and other public works for the newly county goverments. He said that there is no economy in the world that can develope without high quality infrustructure such as roads, building,bridges and water and energy supplies.The PS said that it was important for the engineers and other professionals to

interrrogate themselves on the roles each will play to ensure the counties become self sustaining political and economic units thats will contribute to the kenyans vision 2030.

Award presentation:On behalf of the Institution and as per the Institution’s constitution the Honorary Secretary Eng. Mwamzali Shiribwa announced the council decision to award Minister Franklin Bett with honorary membership. This was avery critical decision because since its inception the institution has only awarded now two members. The first person to be awarded was the Former Vice President Moody Awori

Closing SessionC h a i r m a n E n g . J u l i u s R i u n g u acknowledged the presence of Chief guest, Eng. PS Michael kamau (Roads) representing Chris Obure, PS. Cyrus Njiru (Transport), he then appreciated all Sponsors and exhibitors. Special thanks went to Mabati Rolling Mills the platinum sponsor and Kenya Power for sponsoring the dinner dance

S.K Kamau (Chairman of ERB) reveals the Engineers Act

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Nearly two months after the completion of dredging of the Mombasa port, Kenya Ports Authority is now seeking

to construct the 19th berth as well as upgrade the second container terminal. The construction of the berth-to be undertaken by China Roads and Bridges at an estimated cost of $66.7 million-will see a yard of about 20 ft Equivalent Units created behind it. The container terminal will add 160m to the existing one and bring the container area to 760m.This will be sufficient to handle three medium size container ships of 235m each. The expansion trend is being embraced at the port as proven by the successful handling of some large carriers recently. “Local maritime experts have exuded confidence that the trend will lead to reduction of freight costs in the region,” said Bernard Osero, the KPA corporate affairs manager.Mr. Osero also pointed that the Mediterranean Shipping Company has

replaced some of its smaller container vessels with two Panama vessels namely MSC Roberta and MSC Jade. Other notable large carriers that have since called the port following the dredging include the Roll-on-Roll-off vessel Jolly Diamante the largest of her kind. The 5 billion dredging project which was completed three months earlier saw the port widened and deepened to accommodate larger post-Panamax ships. The port was dredged to a depth of minus 15m in the inner channel and 300m wide at its narrowest point. The project is however in dispute with the Mombasa Municipal Council. The council claims that the Kenya Ports Authority failed to follow all the physical planning requirements as outlined in the Physical Planning Act under the Local Government Act. The projects are under KPA’s expansion plans. According to Mr. Osero, some progress has been made in the construction of the berth.

Expansion of Mombasa Port Continues

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) could once again be facing charges from the East African Marine

Cable System operator, TEAMs who threatened to go to court following a cable cut which occurred early this year. “We will sue KPA again as soon as we establish the cause of the cut”, said the Information and Communication PS Bitange Ndemo.TEAMs had earlier this year sued KPA and a shipping firm for Sh1.2 billion over a cable cut by an Athena ship sailing on a restricted water path. The cable cut interrupted voice and data business for a month causing cable users like Safaricom, Kenya Data Networks and Access Kenya to incur extra cost of seeking alternative carriers like the satellite and from rival fibre optic firm, Seacom.TEAMs, under a joint public-private venture-is owned by the government and telecom operators like Jamii Telecom,Safaricom,Wananchi,Esser,KDN,Telkom Orange and Bandwidth& Cloud Services. The repair works of the cable are expected to take a month. The firm has tapped corporate law firm Daly and Figgis to handle the brief.The Coast is a hub to four marine cables-EASSY-owned by Bharti, MTN and Vodacom, Seacom, TEAMs and LION which connect the entire East African region to the other parts of the world.The East African region got connected to the global undersea fibre optic cable in 2009, which helped wean Kenya off the reliance on the satellite services which happen to be more expensive and offer slower voice and data services.The frequent cable cuts have however thrown a lifeline to satellite operators as internet providers tap them to cushion their operations from interruptions.

Port Sued Over Cable Cuts

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The discovery of oil in the country could be a major turnaround for the country from what it is now, a net importer. This was pointed

by the CEO, Kenya Bankers Association, Habil Olaka in his presentation of a paper titled ‘Economic implementation of oil discovery in Kenya”.He pointed that the discovery would bring both positive and negative impacts on the countries economy. However, most of the negative impacts can be controlled.As is expected, domestic production of oil will produce both skilled and unskilled labour opportunities increasing employment opportunities. The country’s list of trading partners is also expected to have new names as well as a new list of trading goods. Countries with high demand for oil like, China, USA, Japan and others are expected to create close links with the country. Other

Impact of Oil Discovery to the Country

than that, domestic oil production will enable better control of domestic oil prices.As Kenyans, the discovery will mean different things; a population shift is thus expected. People will tend to move to the region where the oil is discovered to take advantage of the economic chances created. The most random opportunity created is one of providing services in the areas.Learning from other countries, he urged we be careful not to drown the country into the resource terming it as ‘resource curse’. It is noted that countries with more resources tend to grow slower than those poor resourced countries. Considering that oil is a rosy and lucrative business to venture into, crowding out of other sectors is feared. Skill will tend to be attracted to this sector leaving a gap in other sectors.

The newly gazetted deep water blocks are already up for grabs. The eight blocks for leasing

were listed in March this year.Camac Energy and France’s Total have already signed production sharing contracts with government.Camac,an American firm was the first explorer to license any of the new offshore blocks. It has secured two blocks namely,L27 and L28 both in Mombasa. Other blocks it has secured are L1B-onshore and L16 which straddles land and sea.Camac owns ninety per cent of all the blocks while the rest is government thus making Camac the operator of the blocks.Total, well known for risky deep water drilling, signed for block L22.They signed a heads of agreement with the government in July last year but are reported to have purchased the area data last month.Normaly,the government delineates the boundaries after deciding were the blocks will be and then licenses the blocks. Among the companies offered the offshore blocks by the ministry of energy include Branzil’s Petrobras,Noway’s Statoil and Eni of Italy .However, they are yet to sign the agreements.

Risky Offshore Oil Blocks Attracting More Explorers

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J ust weeks after the significant discovery of oil in the Northern part of the country, a Houston based oil and gas exploration

company has secured a deep-water drilling ship for giant Mbawa Prospect off Lamu archipelago.Apache Kenya Ltd. who operate and own 50 per cent of the block secured the use of the ship-Deepsea Metro 1 that will be used to sink a well on the billion barrel Mbawa prospect.The ac tual da te to commence operations is hoped to be in the third quarter of 2012. However, according to Pancontinental, commence of works will depend on when the drilling rig is finished with its current operations. “Apache is anticipating a spud date within Q3 2012, with the actual date depending on when the drilling rig is finished with its current operations,” Pancontinental’s Chief Executive Officer Barry Rushworth said in a statement. Seismic indicators show what looks like gas-over-oil-over-water at its primary target. Pancontinental estimates that Mbawa has maximum potential to

contain 4.9 Billion Barrels of oil and a gas cap of 284 Billion Cubic Feet in place at the main Tertiary- Cretaceous level with significant additional potential also to be tested by the well at the deeper Upper Jurassic level and shallower Tertiary levels. However, only drilling can verify the oil and gas volumetric potential (if any) at the well. Further estimates show that Mbawa has in-place and unrisked potential to contain at the deeper Top Jurassic level of up to 323 Million Barrels oil (P10) or 525 Billion Cubic Feet gas (P10).This however is subject to risks like the fact that there is limited data for reservoir parameters on the East African margin

thus there is no control on interpretation of Jurassic carbonates and the lack of a commercial discovery of hydrocarbons in Jurassic carbonates on the East African margin.Water depth over Mbawa is about 800 metres, easily within the range of modern drilling and production technology. The well is expected to take some 45 to 60 days to complete to a planned depth of 3,250m sub-sea in water depth of 860m, easily within the range of modern equipment.The East Africa has become a focus of interest for oil and gas exploration, but a worldwide shortage of rigs threatens to slow growth and increase the cost of operations.Pancontinental who hold 15 per cent of the block has a total of four projects offshore Kenya covering more than 18,000 square kilometres in licence areas L6, L8, L10A and L10B, with the L8 Mbawa project being the most advanced and the first prospect to be drilled. Other partners in the block are Origin Energy Ltd who own 20 per cent and Tullow Oil with a 15 per cent share.

Deep-Water Drilling for Oil at Lamu Takes Shape

‘Water depth over Mbawa is about 800 metres, easily within the range of modern drilling and production technology


Making a decision on what tiles to buy can be a daunting task for those building a new home,

renovating a bathroom or in need of a new kitchen floor. Tiles can bring a touch of unique beauty and shoppers armed with helpful tips on buying quality tiles can drastically improve the ambience of a bathroom wall or the durability of a kitchen floor. R.A.K Ceramics, the world’s leading ceramic manufacturer, provides helpful tips on what to look for when shopping for tiles for your home or office. Without this knowledge, uninformed buyers can cast an ugly, unattractive and unsightly portrait to a room, wall or floor. Obviously, what kind of material the tile is made of, how much it costs, and what color it is will play a major role in what particular tile you end up selecting. But there are also a number of other factors R.A.K Ceramics says one ought

to consider as well: Wear and Tear One of the most important considerations is how much traffic the area will receive. Shoppers should ask how each type of tile is resistance to wear.Slip and Slide Many surfaces especially bathroom floors require high slip resis tance t i les . R.A.K Ceramics Manufacturers have a rating system that will help you make the right choice. .

Water Absorption Most tiles have a rate of water absorption. R.A.K Ceramics advises shoppers that the more the absorption, the poorer the quality of the tile. Check for guarantee of the quality.

Breaking Strength Why buy tiles that do not provide long life durability. Shoppers are advised to look at the thickness of the tile. The rule of thumb for R.A.K Ceramics suggests the more the thickness, the stronger the tile.

A strong tile is usually more than 6mm thick. Always ask the seller to provide a guarantee on the product.

Installation If installed poorly, a tile will break regardless of how strong or durable it is. Dimensional instability can also cause breakage. Most local tile installers will use pure cement to install tiles. R.A.K Ceramics says this method of installation will undoubtedly cause problems. They say that as the cement hardens, it contracts and creates air spaces between the tile and the cement. In such instances, a irect tap on the tile will provide a hollow sound indicative that it will break when little pressure is applied. R.A.K Ceramics suggests fortifying the cement with a latex additive. Also, it is advisable to get the manufacturer to install the tiles to ensure guarantee of durability.

Scratch and Abrasion Ratings Which Grade Is Best for you? The 1 to 5-tile rating applies only to one aspect of tile: visible surface abrasion resistance, which is how readily scratches show on the tile’s surface. A tile rating of 5 is the toughest in terms of standing up to scratching, dirt and traffic while number 1 is the easiest to damage.Grade 1 : This is the weakest of all standard grade ceramic tiles. It’s really only Suitable as a wall tile.Grade 2 : This is best for light traffic areas. Again, a great product for wall tiles, but it will also work in residential bathroomsGrade 3 : Where ceramic tile ratings are concerned, grade three is most common in residential building, and perfect for light to moderate traffic.Grade 4 : This grade is a step up from grade 3 tile grades. It’s still a good choice for residential uses, such as tile floors and countertops,Grade 5 : This stuff is as tough as it gets. When it comes to standard grade ceramic tiles, grade 5 is built to take a beating. It’s mostly used in high traffic areas or commercial installations.

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Government owned National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) has entered into a joint venture with Japan Oil,

Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), a Japanese firm to jointly survey for hydrocarbons in the country. They will conduct a geophysical survey which helps in evaluating if there are commercially viable hydrocarbons in prospected sites.Geophysical surveys are important to exploration companies as they determine which areas are more likely to give a successful drilling operation. Currently, there are a total of 46 exploration blocks up for grabs in the country eight of which are offshore as gazetted by the government.The two firms’ first joint venture will be to survey block 14T, in June this year.

NOCK Makes a Joint Deal for Search of Oil

The deal which underlines the interest of international oil companies will run for an initial one and a half years. Though they do not have immediate plans to drill on the block, NOCK says they will complete the 2D seismic surveys as well as the electromagnetic studies.Kenya has shown great possibility of producing oil following Tullow’s oil discovery at the Ngamia 1 block in Northern Kenya. They recently indicated that the oil thickness of the oil reservoir was greater than initially expected and only the most shallow depths of the planned well had been drilled.Joint ventures are considered by exploring companies following the high cost of survey and drilling.Onshore exploration can at times get upto $50 million.

As prospects for natural resources by international companies intensifies, Australian based

firm Pancontinental Oil & Gas has announced plans to start drilling for oil and gas off the Coast of Kenya.The firm said that First Australian Resources (FAR), who share the block L6 with-has already started receiving tenders for seismic surveys expected to begin next month. FAR which is also an Australian firm owns 60 per cent of the rights to explore for oil and gas on the L6 block both onshore and offshore.FAR which acquired the rights from Gippsland Offshore Petroleum Limited is already seeking tenders for seismic surveys to be done over a 700km area on the southern offshore part of the license area-Kifaru and Tembo.The firm is also exploring the offshore portion of the license area after finding encouraging hydrocarbon generation and migration studies.A report by the Pancontinental Oil & Gas indicates that a deep central depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults in the Kifaru and Tembo areas is considered to be oil and gas “source kitchen” and potential hydrocarbon trapping prospects had already been identified immediately adjacent to this area.

Firm to Start Offshore Drilling Next Year

16 KENYA ENGINEER - MAR / APR 201216 KENYA ENGINEER - JULY / AUGUST 2012

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Ba re l y s i x mon th s a f t e r discovering oil in Turkana, Tullow Oil Plc is now set

to move to Nyakach in Kisumu County for more exploration of the commodity. Officials from the company suspect the area has massive oil deposits.The company is said to have secured a certificate of exploration from the Ministry of Energy. It intends to put up a drilling machine by mid-June while drilling tests in the area are set to begin by August.The government is also doing geographical mapping in parts of the district as other companies have acquired certificates to explore the possibilities of other minerals in the district. The prospecting of oil in the area is said to be part of the government’s efforts to explore minerals in the region.Nyakach is one of the areas geographically listed under Block 13T.If oil is found, it could open the area for development and raise also the living standards for those living in the area. Residents of Nyalunga and Bolo villages have in the past been getting

oil floating in water.

Oil Prospects in Nyakach

UK-based oil explorer Tullow Oil plans to spend up to Shs. 62.2 Billion ($750 Million) jointly

with its partners in exploration and further drilling in Uganda this year as the East African Country races to begin crude oil production.Eoin Mekie, Tullow’s Uganda Country Manager, said the firm also expects to get its first production licence by the close of this year as they proceed with appraisal drilling to determine the size of their oil wells after initial discovery.In February, Tullow, France’s Total and China’s CNOOC completed their long delayed $2.9 Billion partnership venture that gave each of them a one third stake in Tullow’s five Uganda exploration blocks.“The three partners this year will spend something in the region of $650 to $750 Million. Mekie said in a press briefing.“And this money will be spent on drilling, on appraisal, development, seismic

acquisition and studies.”Mekie said this year’s planned investment was part of the $10 Billion that the three companies expected to spend before Uganda’s oil sector goes into full-scale production phase.Commercial oil production in Uganda is likely to begin in 2014 with full-scale output seen around 2020, he said.Uganda d iscovered commercia l hydrocarbon deposits along its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, and Tullow says reserves of 1.1 billion barrels are confirmed in place and believes there are a further 1.4 billion barrels left to find.The Government says 2.5 billion barrels of oil are confirmed of which 10 billion barrels are recoverable.The firm, however, hopes to start supplying some crude, accumulated in exploration and appraisal drilling, to Ugandan industries later this year, it said, earlier.

Tullow, Partners To Invest Shs. 62 Billion In Uganda Oil Find

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www.mahindrapowerol.com

Bujagali will be adding another 50 mega watts of electricity to Uganda’s national grid. The 250

megawatt hydropower plant started supplying electricity early this year.Government officials said the reliability test run for the third 50MW unit was completed earlier bringing to 150MW the total amount of power being generated from the plant.Bujagal i Energy L imi ted (BEL) announced that the reliability test run for the third 50MW unit was almost complete. The units are being run in a series of ‘commissioning tests’ to ascertain their performance.The first unit was commissioned in mid-February and the second one in April reducing the 12-hour load shedding to two hours. A third unit will also be commissioned while a fourth one is also expected bringing the total to 200MW.Upon completion in July this year, the power plant will produce a total of 250MW.The plant jointly owned by Sithe Global Power LLC and Industrial Promotion Services Kenya Ltd started construction in 2006.Uganda has been relying much on thermal power .In November last year, they decommissioned the emergency thermal plants which cost the nation Sh 1.5 trillion since 2005.Other than the Bujagali plant, they plan to construct a 600 megawatt Karuma Hydropower Project starting June this year.

Bujagali Plant Increases Power Output

Yansam East Africa LtdNairobi: Sameer Business Park, Block D, Tel: 057 2509293 or Cell 072578840.Mombasa: Archbishop Makarios Road, Tel: 0732 777266, 0716 777266.

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Solar energy is one of the best renewable sources of energy which if well harnessed could greatly reduce the over reliance

on hydro-power which currently feeds 60 per cent of Kenya’s power. The fact that solar power is green energy and is much affordable in terms of maintenance as compared to others, is now turning many to this source of power. Solar power is no longer for the areas with power deficiency but the key to energy saving, a solution to all those wanting to cut their energy bills even as they go green.Estates and business houses in the city are turning to solar lighting which is gaining a lot of popularity in the country. The solar energy is being used for street lighting in the estates while upcoming business buildings are being built in a way that no lighting is needed during the day. The initial cost of setting up the solar

Street Lighting Going Green

powering street lighting system is quite high but it removes the monthly burden of paying the electricity bill. Each installment cost’s Sh190, 000 which includes a pole lamp, battery charger and a solar panel.The street lights have an adjustable lamp that can be mounted on a pole measuring 10m high. The lamp, with a full life of 50,000 hour- has an adjustable mounting frame for the solar panel. It is automatically adjusted to switch on when its dusk and off on sunrise. One can also change its timing to suit their

preferences.The solar bulbs used in the lamps require less energy compared to the electric bulbs. The poles are different from the usual ones since it includes a solar panel on top and a box containing the rechargeable battery below the bulb.The unit comes with a digital micro-controller- designed for easy servicing and maintenance-that allows automatic regulation of the battery charging and load control. It also eliminates expensive mains cable installation costs and increases public safety and aids in providing a safe working environment in areas where mains power is difficult to access.Other tasks where solar power other than lighting include cooking, heating water and charging batteries. Some other solar powered lightings we expect in the future include solar flood lights, solar post lights, garden lights, driveway, and wall mount solar lights.

‘ The poles are different from the usual ones since it includes a solar panel on top and a box containing the rechargeable battery below the bulb.

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An adequate illumination of public or private areas and properties is necessary for various reasons, the most

obvious being general orientation and security. But a well arranged illumination can also create a pleasant atmosphere. Acquiring and installing outdoor lights can be a complicated affair because of extensive trench work and cabling, and quite often main electricity supply is not reliable or readily available. In addition to that, electricity consumption of traditional outdoor lights is expensive with total energy cost being many times more than the initial investment. It is estimated that in some municipalities up to 30% of the electricity consumption goes to street illumination.During recent years, however, there has been a fast development in technology that has now made it possible to install street lights and lights in public and private areas without having to depend on existing power infrastructure.Reliable LED bulbs with a very low energy consumption in combination with solar panels has opened the doors for completely new ways of illuminating both municipal and private streets and

is the New Way to Street Lighting

New independent and cost efficient lighting technology has made it easier to illuminate open areas.

estates, and also car parks, factory yards, school compounds, gardens and parks, etc.

Integrated light package now availableRecently an integrated street light package was introduced to the market by Davis & Shirtliff. It consists of a high performance LED lamp unit providing a 40 W output and 2400 Lumens of illumination, mounted in a corrosion proof aluminium housing. The unit comes with a digital microcontroller that provides automatic regulation of battery charging and load control. The lamp automatically switches on and off at dusk and dawn and even

offers various operation programmes, such as shutdown in the middle of the night. Each lamp unit can also be manually adjusted. LED indicators show operating status. An 80W or 120W solar panel and a 12 Volt, 100AH maintenance free battery, mounted in a lockable waterproof battery box, is also part of the package.Everything can be mounted on a 6-10 meter steel mounting pole with an adjustable mounting frame for the solar panel on top.

A cost effective and reliable solutionThe LED lights,powered by modern polycrystalline photo voltaic solar

Solar Energy

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panels, have a lifetime of 50,000 hours. Compared to equivalent traditional bulbs,they use less than 10% energy, so a 40W lamp gives the same amount of light as a traditional 400W lamp. Due to recent advances in LED and PV module manufacturing processes they are now also very cost competitive.Provided that light is needed for 7 hours

every night, the lamps will last for twenty years, which is the same lifetime as is expected for the solar panel. Only the battery will have to be changed during that time. Apart from that, there are no operating expenses.Davis &Shirtliff is the region’s leading water and power products organization with many years of experience in solar technology for water pumping.They are one of the leading participants in the East African solar industry offering a complete product range including PV modules, controllers, batteries, inverters, pumps, accessories and hot water heaters, all of which are either imported from world-

leading suppliers or manufactured at their extensive Nairobi headquarters. The new street light range are launched under the company’s own ‘Dayliff’ brand and are fully supported by the same service and backup expertise as all other products of the company.This very cost effective and reliable so lu t i on makes s t r ee t l i gh t i ng independent of mains electricity and has now made it possible to extend illumination of public and private estates to areas where it previously was not viable to install outdoor lighting. Needless to say, it is also a very environment friendly solution.

‘Provided that light is needed for 7 hours every night, the lamps will last for twenty years, which is the same lifetime as is expected for the solar pane

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LG becomes the latest to join the list of those offering cloud computing services. The service is for content management, back

up and consumption through all kinds of Android devices including smartphones, tablets, computers and Smart TVs.Cloud Computing is quickly gaining popularity in the country. It allows for storing of information virtually and access from anywhere without the need for a hardware storage device.The LG Cloud will allow users to manage and consume all types of content on Android Smart phones, personal computers and smart television sets. Smart phone content will be automatically synchronized with the cloud server and the user’s PC and TV.Unlike other cloud apps which call for downloading of video before viewing it, the LG Cloud allows for user to view and stream it to your PC or TV instantaneously. The streaming service uses LG’s own Real-Time Streaming technology which converts the video format in real time allowing one stream it without needing anything special to play

Race in Cloud Computing Intensifiesor having to download it first. It supports also 3D videos . LG has formed a separate division to take care of its cloud services and the Multimedia oriented approach is certainly a distinguishing feature that sets it apart from the rest of the consumer cloud service providers like Drop Box and Google. Apple has a similar approach but it is completely integrated in to Apple products and needs an Apple product for full enjoyment.The LG Cloud will be offered as both a free and paid service. Free storage space and pricing will differ from market to market. For Android users, they can download the app either from Google Play or LG SmartWorld app stores; LG Smart TV owners can find the app at LG SmartWorld store and PC users can additionally find it on the LG Cloud website. Else, one can download it from the LG SmartWorld App store.Google whose most services are cloud based launched its own Google Drive cloud service recently. Samsung is also rumored to be working on its own cloud service — the S Cloud.

Students from both primary and secondary schools can now enjoy e-learning thanks to

Microsoft and the LG Corporation. The two firms in partnership with the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) have launched new model e-learning classrooms using virtual computers.The smart e-learning LG classrooms will use LG cloud monitors which allow for use of one personal computer in a multi-user environment. They also launched a Windows-based solution that uses a single host computer to power multiple simultaneous and independent user stations in the country’s education system.The e-learning classroom launched in the dynamic center will demonstrate best practices in curriculum delivery for schools using modern technology. The classroom is designed to adapt to technological changes in the delivery of education in line with the millennium Development Goals.The classrooms are cheap to set-up and use. The new technology is expected to help schools save the cost of purchasing computers by up to 60 per cent. Institutions are expected to transfer their bulk IT activities to the cloud. This will also raise the computer access and knowledge.“KIE has developed digital curriculum support materials for primary and secondary schools based on the national curriculum”, said KIE Director Lydia Nzomo during the launch haled at KIE. In a speech delivered by education assistant minister on behalf of Mutula Kilonzo, he urged the teachers to embrace modern technology as the new model classroom is durable and seeks to demonstrate flexibility.KIE will provide the premises for the new centre while the two firms will make donations of the equipments and the finances as well.

Cloud Computing to Improve Kenya’s Education Sector

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Passion fruit farmers in Kenya have a reason to smile following plans by an Eldoret-based investor to set up a fruit processing

plant. The Sh500 million factory by Transaction Link International Limited, a private company that specializes in micro-finance and agribusiness-targets European and Middle East export markets. According to the executive director, David Ndiema, the plant has identified a block of 1.3 acres of land valued at Sh30 million in Eldoret opposite the Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE).Whereas the funding of the factory would be sourced from Bertuzi, an Italian food processing company who will provide the machinery as well, Ndiema said that there were funding arrangements with Diamond Trust Bank for purchase of the land. He added that they were in consultations with other various banks in regard to the funding.“We will get 75 per cent of the financing

Fruit Processing Plant to be Set Up in Eldoret

from Bertuzi Food of Italy and we are also working with a MEAF Consultants located at Sameer Park in Nairobi”, said Ndiema.They however await approval from Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) who said they will offer the certificate only after a site visit to the proposed land. The project will involve development of a commercial nursery for breeding of quality seeds and growing of grafted purple passion fruits on yellow seedlings for 12,000 farmers. The company intends to contract small holder farmers in Eldoret to grow the passion fruits.Kenya is among the few countries that grow the purple variety of the fruit. However, the local passion fruit market remains small, accounting to only three per cent of all the fruits in stalls and supermarkets. South America remains the dominator of passion fruit growing with Equador, Brazil and Peru being key producers.

K enya signed an agreement last year with Ethiopia for the purchase of 400 MW

of power by 2016. Speaking at the Safari Park Hotel, in October last year Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi said the implementation of the massive project will cost Sh64 billion and will involve the construction of a 443 km high voltage transmission line in Kenya and a further 159 kilometres in Ethiopia and will transmit 2,000 MW.Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy, Mr Alemayehu Tegenui, who was present at the discussions said Ethiopia was developing 8,000 MW of power sources and currently had 2000 MW to sell to other states. Kenya, he said, was an important power interconnector in the region.The transmission line route runs southwards from Ethiopia adjacent to the Moyale – Marsabit road avoiding the Marsabit National Park and connecting to the Kenya – Tanzania interconnector at Kenya’s Isinya substation 50 km south of Nairobi and onwards to Tanzania, Zambia and the DR Congo.Kenya’s Energy ministry permanent Secretary, Patrick Nyoike said in Nairobi late May that the World Bank proposed to advance Sh37 billion for the project. Other financiers include European Investment Bank with a $118 million loan. Once complete the Kenya Ethiopia interconnected will enable the country tap into Ethiopia – Kenya interconnector will enable the country to tap into the Eastern Africa power pool.Kenya entered into the agreement with its neighbor to buy 400 MW of electricity to supplement its local production and help reduce the cost of production. The deal could cost up to Sh101.5 billion.

Funds Available for Ethiopia – Kenya Interconnector

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‘Power in Africa remains a major problem resulting to internet connectivity to few places and not others especially in rural

areas. This may soon be a thing of the past following Samsung‘s new invention of the Solar-powered Internet School (SPIS) to help connect the rural schools to the ‘e-world’.The classroom which also happens to be mobile, is set inside a 12-metre-long shipping container fitted in with laptops and tablets enabled with internet, video Wi-Fi cameras, and a 50-inch electronic blackboard, all powered by solar panels. It has a space for 21 pupils and a teacher with a ventilation system designed to maintain a “temperate environment”.According to the manufacturers, the “solar powered internet school” can survive harsh weather conditions,

operate where there is no electricity supply and can be easily be carried by truck to remote areas.Internet is speedily becoming one of the basic necessities to be able to survive in this modern wold.It’s not only becoming one of the best businesses to run all across the world but a major

tool in learning institutions. However, power insufficiency persists isolating many rural communities from accessing internet. This in turn limits their access to education and information, both of which are key to fast-tracking a nation’s development.Samsung launched the project as a pilot programme in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. The aim is to connect 2.5 million learners in the power-deficient rural parts of Africa with the rest of the world via internet by the year 2015.The first such project was launched in the Northern parts Kenya by Computer Aid who set a solar café. Much effort is being done to make available internet to most parts of the country. Projects have been started to connect schools with the fibre optic cable.

Solar Powered Internet for Schools

The is to aim connect 2.5 million learners in the power-deficient rural parts of Africa with the rest of the world via internet by the year 2015.

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New Laws to Cut Building Cost

The proposed new bui ld ing technologies will help reduce cost of building if incorporated in the

Kenyan Building Code which is under revision for the first time. According to the government officials, the code is expected to allow new technologies of building which could cut the cost of building by up to half. The current code is not only termed by many as too rigid but is considered very expensive as well.The a l te rnat ive technologies o f building the Public Works propose to adopt include prefabricated houses, interlocking bricks and PVC roofing sheets. These are locally available and facilitate quick and sustainable delivery of affordable housing to meet the demand estimated at 150,000 units annually.The current code specifies that the stone for construction should be 200mm thick. This kind of stone is however found only in Kericho, Narok and Thika imposing a huge cost of transportation for builders

away from these places.The National Housing Corporation has already set up a factory to produce cheaper building panels referred to as expanded polystyrene foams. This is a tough kind of plastic sandwiched between a mesh of galvanized wire covered with a court of concrete plaster.The code contains a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable safety standards for buildings to promote public health, safety and general welfare. Experts involved in the review of the code say the new laws will enforce professional discipline and standards to curb rising cases of poor workmanship that have resulted to cases of collapse of buildings.A body to guarantee decent, secure and planned building structures has also been established. The National Construction Authority will provide policy guidelines and direction so as to curb shoddy construction works.

KenGen has signed a contract for development of the 280MW geothermal power project at

Olkaria. The Ksh11.6 billion contract being funded by World Bank and Development Bank KfW of Germany was signed with Sinopec International Petroleum Company (SIPC) who won the contract after competitive bidding.The Chinese firm will develop a steam field in 27 months. The steam field will comprise of steam pipelines, steam separators and seam filled control system to deliver steam from the geothermal wells to Olkaria 1 unit 4, 6 and Olkaria IV power plants each with a capacity of 140 megawatts. The project set to be complete by mid 2014 will see a further 25 per cent of the current energy capacity injected into the national grid. According to KenGen’s MD Eddy Njoroge, there’s already sufficient steam to generate over 380 megawatts of geothermal power in Olkaria.The power project last year got a Sh7.4 billion boost from Germany’s Development Bank KFW to fund consultancy services and part of the steam field drilling works. The money given was to also fund the extension of Olkaria one and Olkaria IV power station project targeted for completion by end of 2013. The overall cost of the project is Sh83 billion and is being co-funded by KenGen, World Bank, European Investment Bank, Japan International Corporation Agency and French Development Agency, AFD.Kenya is targeting to develop 5000 MW of geothermal power by year 2030 as stipulated in the country’s planning document Vision 2030.

Olkaria gets Sh11.6B for the Geothermal Power Project

Kenya’s biggest telecom service providers and competitors, Safaricom and Airtel plan to

form a joint venture in the laying of a fibre network in the coming financial year. The multi-million venture is aimed at cutting the reliance of third parties for wholesale internet.“We are going to roll out the fibre in the coming financial year, it will involve partnering with other mobile operators”, said Safaricom Chief Executive Officer, Bob Collymore.The two firms, though continue to battle for control of Kenya’s telecom market-will share the cost of project. They are both eying a larger share of the data market to grow profits and compensate for the flat revenues in the voice market.There has been a growing data demand from smartphone users and tablet computers which in turn is forcing to operators to invest in infrastructure like the fibre optic cable so as to provide faster and more efficient internet services.The number of internet users in Kenya rose 95.6 percent year-on-year to 17.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.This is attributed to the increased mobile phone subscriptions according to the Communication Commission of Kenya. They add that mobile phones are the main mode of accessing internet and thus mobile operators have resulted to upgrading their networks to support high speed wireless services.The move to lay down the cable by the two firms could hurt the earnings their wholesale internet providers-Access Kenya, Jamii Telecoms and Kenya Data Network (KDN).

Kenya’s Largest Telecom Service Competitors Enter Joint Venture

Upgrade works for the second upgrade phase of the Kisumu Airport have begun. The airport,

which on completion will become the third largest airport in the country will be undertaken by China Overseas Engineering Group Company and is expected to take 15 months.The phase one upgrade saw the airport officially opened by the President in February this year. The Sh3.3 billion upgrade took three years to complete. It involved setting up new facilities like access roads, a modern apron and a car parking lot.The works on phase II, said to cost Sh1.9 billion will involve construction of a parallel taxiway, a cargo apron and other associated facilities. The project will see to the strengthening of the runaway as well as ground lighting. The new airfield lighting will include

Phase-II Upgrade Works for Kisumu Airport Begin

directional signs, runaway lights and approach lights will be mounted at the facility. The new apron will accommodate bigger aircrafts and a new car park that will hold about 130 cars.Currently, the airport lacks cargo transit sheds which are planned to be included in the phase II.The upgrade will see the international airport accommodate bigger aircrafts and over 300,000 passengers per year. It is said to have the potential to open up the EAC markets as well as easing road traffic in the region. New routes linking Nairobi, Entebe, Kigali, Arusha, Mwanza and Juba are also viewed as possible through the airport.The President launched the upgrade p ro jec t in July 20 09 dur ing a groundbreaking ceremony which he officiated. The airport is the fourth international airport in the country.

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A New Research Centre for ICT to be Set Up

The University of Nairobi (UoN) will house the new research centre aimed at promoting development

of relevant and user-friendly softwares .The Centre of Excellence in Computing for Development as it will be referred to will focus on key areas including mobile money transfer, e-governance and ICT for development.The center to be based at the University’s School of Computing and Informatics follows concerns by researchers and industry players on the slow uptake of mobile money applications despite the country achieving a 70 per cent mobile penetration rate. The concerns were raised during the inaugural Africa Mobile Money Researchers conference held at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies in Nairobi.The lack of synergy between the industry and the developers has been blamed as

the cause of failure for most applications to make an impact in the market. The center will however enjoy a multi-disciplinary human resource capacity that will enable researchers come up with comprehensive market insights from conceptualization to commercialization of applications.“Lack of understanding of consumer needs has seen many applications brought to the market with producers not thinking through the whole product cycle”, noted Prof Timothy Waema an associate professor in UoN.Funding of the centre is expected to come from the yet-to-be-established government research k i t ty. The government is expected to commit one per cent of the national GDP to research and development.Prof Waema added that they would also seek complementary funding from the private sector.

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Competition in the sugar industry in Kenya is set to go upon following the commissioning

of the Kwale International Sugar Company Limited (Kiscol).The milling plant at the Coast will be built by Nairobi based Epico Builders who were awarded the contract.The plant which was opened by the president Mwai Kibaki in 2010 is under joint ownership between Kiscol and Mauritania based sugar producer, Omnicane .It will be run by Omnicane who own majority of the shares by 20 per cent. They will manage cane development and day to day operations of the factory as per the agreement with Kiscol.The plant set to be completed by March next year will crush up to 3,000 tonnes of sugarcane per day,30,00 litres of ethanol per day and 18 mega watts of electricity. The scale of sugarcane is however expected to be scaled up to 5,000 tonnes eventually. In a year, the plant will produce 90,000 tonnes of sugar.Kiscol will tend 4,500 hectares of sugarcane but has a l ready secured over 2,000 hectares of outgrowers ’sugarcane through contracts with over 1,500 registered farmers in the region. It is also expected to create more job opportunities in the region.The sugar industry in Mauritius is highly competitive due to the fact that modern technology in production is used. It is then expected that Omnicane will bring along its technological advances into the Kwale cane venture.

New Kwale Sugar Plant to Intensify Competition

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Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) has announced plans to build a new pipeline from Mombasa to Nairobi. The pipeline,

included in the 2012/2013 budget estimates is set to start construction in the second half of this year.The pipeline is estimated to cost a total of Sh17.3 billion.KPC will raise Sh8.4 billion from a consortium of lenders while the rest Sh8.9 billion will be from its retained earnings and surplus.The pipeline to run on the latest technology will have a 40 per cent increased capacity than the current one. It will have a diameter of between 16-20 inches from the current 14 inches and a life span estimated at 33 years. This will help the country secure a long term fuel supply.The current pipeline was first laid down by Zakhem, an engineering firm-in the year 1978.It has contributed to persistent fuel shortages in Nairobi

Plans for New Pipeline Underwayand Western Kenya as well as the degradation of infrastructure as oil dealers turn to the road to transport the fuel.KPC also announced plans to build liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage plants next year as part of a strategy to meet the commodity’s growing demand in the region. The plant facilities according to a study carried out by the Ministry of Energy together with the World Bank in 2005,are to be set up in Nairobi,Mombasa,Kisumu,Eldoret,Nakuru and Sagana.They are to have a capacity of 8,700 tonnes. The government intends to have them commissioned by the end of 2014 before moving on to other strategic locations in the country.The cost of the bulk LPG import handling, storage facilities in Mombasa was estimated at $28.6 million while that of establishing the inland facilities was put at $43.3 million.

Multi-national sof t drinks maker Coca cola has opened a can manufacturing plant

at the Coast. The Sh455 million plant is aimed at increasing the company’s share of the soft drinks in the regions’ market.Speaking during the commissioning of the plant, acting Industrialization Minister, Amason Kingi pointed that the investment would supplement the governments’ efforts to create job opportunities.“We are keen to facilitate industrial development with a focus on building a more balanced economy with stronger manufacturing, exports and private investment, thus creating jobs and opportunities”, said the minister.In the past, Coca-Cola has been importing canned beverages for the country with over 95 per cent of the its unit case volumes being delivered in returnable glass and recyclable bottles. The new plant is able produce 30,000 cans per hour.The plant is expected to increase competitiveness of the company in the region. According to the East and West Africa business unit leader Nathan Kalumbu, this will give the Coca-Cola a capacity to conveniently package and also export to the East Africa Community and Comesa markets.

Soft Drinks Company Opens a Canning Plant at the Coast

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A Japanese firm, Toyota has made a proposal to build the oil pipeline under the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan and-

Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) project. This came weeks after the president urged interested investors to come in and help accelerate this and other projects under the vision 2030.Toyota through its trade and investment arm,Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) and the government of Kenya are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to allow it intensify its investments in the different sector in the country.The pipeline is one of the components under the mega LAPSSET Corridor which was launched last month. The project to be undertaken by Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia will also include the construction of a new port in Lamu, a railway line to South Sudan and Ethiopia refinery and resort cities in northern Kenya.The company announced its interest to invest in the project in the year 2010 where it proposed to build the 1400

Motor Firm Bids to Invest in the Lamu-S.Sudan Pipeline

kilometer-long oil export pipeline stretching from Juba, Southern Sudan to the Coastal town of Lamu at an a cost of Sh114 billion. It would then run the pipeline for 20 years so as to recoup its investment and thereafter transfer its ownership to the two governments. According to the company, the project is billed as its biggest investment of the decade.This will not be Toyota’s first investment in the country’s energy sector. In November last year, the Japanese trading firm and Hyundai Engineering Co of South Korea were awarded the biggest contract in the power project of building geothermal plants at a cost Sh40 billion.Toyota is divided into six major business divisions that include metals, machinery and electronics, automotive, energy and chemicals. It also has divisions that deal with produce, foodstuff and other materials. Its huge catalogue of planned investments includes participation in geothermal power generation and field development.

Kenya’s electricity generator KenGen is now seeking Sh57 billion from willing investors

so as to set up a gas-powered power plant. The plant to be set at the port city in Mombasa is to be run on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).Following the growing demand of electricity, frequent black outs caused by generation blackouts and an aging grid, the LNG plant is expected to help solve this problem as well as move the company away from overreliance of hydro power.Curently,KenGen produces a total of 1,414 MW from thermal, hydro and other renewable sources.The plant is expected to s tar t construction by the year 2015 after it has sought for financing in private and public partnerships.“We have not raised any funds yet but we are working closely with the Private Public Partnership (PPP) unit on how we can structure the project to be implemented as a PPP project” said Eddy Njoroge, managing Director KenGen.Construction of the plant is estimated to take up to 5 years with an output of up to 485 mega watts and an economic life of 20 years. The natural gas could be sourced from Middle East and other parts of the world.The search and use of natural gas has been ongoing in many countries. The natural gas is considered since it emits less carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels such as coal or oil. Royal Dutch Shell Company floats the world’s first floating natural gas plant 200km out to sea off the coast of Australia. It is also the biggest floating offshore drilling structure in the world, weighing in at about 600,000 tonnes

KenGen Considering Liquefied Natural Gas for Power Production

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The first phase of the Nairobi Commuter Rail (NCR) project is now complete following the construction of a new

commuter railway station at Syokimau and a 2.2 km spur line connecting it to the old Embakasi line. The Syokimau Railway Station-to start operation in July-is the first intercity connection train station with all amenities. It is aimed at decongesting Mombasa Road as well as ease access to the city. New ultra modern locomotives will be acquired together with wagons to facilitate the modernization of the station. Additionally, the project will also open up new opportunities for employment and housing.The Sh200 million rail line is the first Kenya has built since the Second World War. It is part of a larger Sh24 billion urban transport network that will connect Nairobi’s estates with

the central business district. Target commuters are those from Syokimau, Kitengela, Athi River, Machakos and Mombasa Road.The Government i s cons ider ing internat ional f inancing af ter an ambitious Sh17billion bond plan failed to materialize due to a harsh macro-economic environment. However, the first phase of the project is being funded by the Exchequer.The new railway line will be served by six refurbished locomotives with a total capacity of 175 passengers each. Currently, Kenya Railways Corporation operates on a single route twice a day serving 50,000 passengers. The refurbished network will see to two trains moving in different directions with a capacity of 10,000 passengers a day.Kenya Railways Corporation together with InfraCo Group are set to build a new 6.5km line connecting Embakasi

to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) starting July next year. Still under construction is the Makadara Station which is expected to be two times the size of the Syokimau station. There are a total of four stations all under the Nairobi urban transport master plan under the Vision 2030.The plan is to reduce Nairobi’s reliance on matatu transport and eliminate traffic jams in the city. The master plan includes proposed construction of new lines to satellite towns such as Ngong, Kiserian and Kikuyu.

‘Other than the upgrade of the network, JTL has also embarked on a direct fibre optic connection project to homes under its brand, Jtl-faiba


Phase one of Nairobi’s Railway Transport System Completed

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A thi River Steel Plant Ltd (Athi Steel) has increased its product range and production capacities at its factory

situated in Athi River a kilometre or so from Kenya Meat Commission on route to Mombasa. Athi Steel manufactures a comprehensive range of quality steel products. Billets are manufactured on site from which building and structural steel products are produced in the rolling mills. Building steel includes round, square, twisted and TMT bars from 8mm to 32mm diameter. The section mills produce flats, angles, channels, I-beams Tee and Zed sections. A range of casting products which include man-hole covers and industrial castings including couplings for rolling mills are produced in the Foundry. Ingot moulds for use in melting furnaces are also produced and are an import substitute product which can make a small contribution towards the Country’s current account deficit by decreasing

Athi Steel Increases Product Rangeimportation of this item. Athi Steel is also a manufacturer of mild steel bolts & nuts. Athi Steel’s Managing Director, Ravi Gupta advised that Athi Steel maintains the quality of its products through the use of a chemical and mechanical laboratory situated at the Factory. Athi Steel is honoured to have been awarded the Diamond Mark of Quality for our reinforcement bars by the Kenya Bureau of Standards’.Athi Steel’s recent addition to its product range include the A252 and A393 wire meshes which are used in bridge and heavy construction. These products complement the range of weld mesh and BRC products, including nails, produced. Round, square and rectangular black and galvanized pipes are also produced. ‘We supply our quality products to reputed contractors and traders who are involved in the construction industry and are working towards helping build

Kenya to achieve the Vision 2030 targets’ added Mr Gupta. The MD advised how Athi Steel’s Board, which includes representatives from Aureos EA Fund and Swedfund International (a fund of the Swedish Government), has set targets of not only producing quality products but also having proper regard towards environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. The Athi Steel workforce is provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) the use of which is mandatory. The Company is working with a consultant whose remit is to improve the Company’s standards to international standards. The MD concluded that even though the current trading conditions, with high interest rates and high costs of production, were tough, he was confident that prospects for manufacturers and all involved in the Construction and infrastructure industries would improve within the next few months.

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The International Finance Corp (IFC), a unit of the World Bank has announced plans to invest Sh33.6 billion to support

infrastructure development in the country.According to Mr. Thierry Tanoh, Vice president Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe, IFC will continue to highly impact power, transport sectors as well as support small and medium businesses. “As a heavyweight economy of East Africa, Kenya is a key priority for IFC.Our investments in Kenya have been increasing steadly”, said Tonah in a news conference in Nairobi.He pointed that IFC’s investments will touch the $380 million mark this year following a $60 million increase in the year 2010.IFC is expected to invest Sh2.6 billion in Gulf Power and Sh2.35 billion in Thika Power Limited to generate power. It is also considering to invest Sh4.3 billion in Kenya Power to enable it expand its distribution network.The corporations’ strategy in Kenya will continue to focus on supporting small and medium enterprises. Others include supporting work on improving investment climate and investing in high impact areas like infrastructure and agricultural business.

Kenya’s Economy Attracts Investors

The government has received a Sh29 billion loan from the Japanese government through, Japanese

International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to construct a 26km bypass that will link the island of Mombasa to South Coast.The road also referred to as the Dongo Kundu Bypass –is aimed at easing movement of cargo from the port and is the second largest project after the LAPSSET Corridor. It will serve as an alternative link from the hinterland to the

South Coast and to the planned Dongo Kundu Port. It is scheduled to start in December and complete by August 2018.The project as proposed will feature a road that will branch off from the main Mombasa to Nairobi (A109) road, and traverse Miritini, Kipevu, Tsunza, Mtenza to end at Kibundani in the South Coast.According to Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA), the scope of the Project will include construction of

roads, bridges and drainage facilities at selected locations, installation of slope protection works, provision of road safety facilities and other amenities. On completion, the road will decongest the city of Mombasa since it will provide an alternative route to the Likoni ferry. It will also connect the new container terminal near Moi International Airport with the Northern transport corridor and the South Coast.Roads Minister, Franklin Bett pointed that the project would be fast tracked by government technical teams. He also pointed out that preliminary designs have been done but positions for consultants to carry out detailed designs for the project will be advertised soon.The road, though shorter than the 45KM Nairobi-Thika highway will cost more since it will traverse a swampy area. It will have 4 bridges with one measuring more than a kilometer long across the sea. The project comes at a time when the Mombasa port is undergoing expansion.

A Sh29bn Bypass to be Constructed in Mombasa

NEWS


The construction of National Data Centres (NDC) will not start mid-this year as earlier

planned. This follows the delay in passing the Private Public Partnerships bill that is scheduled to be tabled in parliament by May this year.The three proposed data centers to be established under public private partnerships is estimated to cost between Sh17 billion and Sh21 billion. The centre will be used for the storage of government documents that are being digitalized. This follows the government’s plans to start offering its services online, a move expected to improve governments’ service delivery and help in fighting corruption. It will also help in cutting operational cost of the different ministries and agencies.According to the PS Ministry of Information, Bitange Ndemo offering services online will boost the economy by s t reamlining cumbersome processes and simplify reporting requirements.Kenya has been in the shift to e-goverment since July last year when it launched an open government data portal under the Kenya Open Data Initiative. This made it the first of the developing countries to launch such a portal that allows for citizens to access over 390 datasets even as over 100 more datasets are set to be added to the site.The Ministry of Lands plans to digitalize all land documents at an estimated cost of Sh1billion.The revenue is then expected to move from Sh7 billion to almost Sh40 billion.With open data, the information and communication technology (ICT) sector is expected to increase its contribution to the gross domestic product to 15.The new digital platforms will also to change the dynamic between citizens and their governments.

Switch to e-Government to Suffers Delay

The min i s t ry o f hea l th has announced plans to go digital following governments’ efforts to

initiate e-governance. Speaking during the annual Kenya Medical Association, Information Ministry PS, Bitange Ndemo said that the pilot programme was underway and nothing could stop it.“A pilot programme is underway at the Kenyatta National Hospital to prepare for the nationwide rollout of the e-health strategy”, said Ndemo.The programme to be funded through a public-private partnership will involve interlinking health centres and converting health records in the country to soft copy. This will aid in cutting cost by eliminating duplication of tests as patient records will be available online. An online electronic medical supplies procurement system will also be established. It is expected to make buying goods more efficient and cheaper.

e-Health, Ministry to Go DigitalDigital medical records will be crucial in providing statistics necessary to show disease trends and prevalence rates and thus help forecast potential outbreaks. Such health records will be stored at a national data centre, providing medical researchers with an opportunity to consult with doctors in other countries and share the best practices as well as new knowledge in the health profession.However privacy concerns remain as online health records may be seen by unauthorized people and affect the traditional doctor-patient relationship. The programme will make it possible to access doctor’s professional resumes and achievements such as specialization, research, number of surgeries and how many of their patients have died.According to Lulu Waitara of Lulu Medical Group, Pharma is willing to put their money in the project since it will help in their research and development.

NEWS


Coast Water Services (CWS)is seeking Sh40 billion funding from possible development partners to build a second

water pipeline at the Coast. The project dubbed Mzima 2 will see to the building of a 210km pipeline to run from Mzima to Mombasa parallel to the current one.“We are still in talks with to fund the project”, said Fatma Awale in an interview with Kenya Engineer.”Some investors have shown interest in the project but they are reluctant to fund it terming the amount too big”, she added.She however pointed that the cost of things today is very high and come near future the cost will be even higher since the prices of commodities keep rising.The Mzima 2 pipeline will supply water to Taru, Voi, Mariakani, Mazeras and other parts of the west Coast including

Mombasa. I t is l ikely that upon completion, the 1st pipeline will be left out for Taita.CWS board chairman, Anthony Mrima said that the demand for water in Mombasa is high and thus the need to increase capacity. The region generally receives about 67,000 cubic metre of piped water daily against a demand of

about 150,000 cubic metres.At the moment, the Baricho waterworks station has been shut down to allow for installation of six additional electrical water pumps. The station supplies water to Maalindi, Kilifi and parts of Mombasa. It is part of the final phase of the rehabilitation works that have been going on. The works are expected to be complete by the end of this year. A parallel pipeline from Baricho will soon be installed as the board has already secured additional funding from the World Bank. The lack of investment in water has is attributed to have resulted to low supply of essential commodities at the Coast. Upon completion of the rehabilitation works together with the second pipeline, water supply is estimated to increase to volumes of about 70-80 per cent.

‘A 2nd Water Pipeline at The Coast to Cost Sh40bn

The project dubbed Mzima 2 will see to the building of a 210km pipeline to run from Mzima to Mombasa parallel to the current one

NEWS


An Investment Monitoring Platform (IMP) has been launched by the United Nations to help policy makers

track foreign direct investments (FDIs) into Africa. The database will enable countries to formulate policies that will attract more FDIs.The online database has information on more than 5,000 companies in Africa. It shows the performance of these companies in various sectors and their perceptions towards various countries as investment destinations. The site also records investment flows to every country.The online database could be of great benefit to Kenya which has been loosing out on opportunities after recording only 4 per cent of total inflows in all Africa as per the latest report by Ernst Young,

Online Database to track Investors in Africaa global consulting firm. It was however the lead investor in Africa in the last four years going by the number of new projects set up.According to World Bank data, Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana recorded growth in net FDI between 2004 and 2010. Tanzania attracted more than $800 million in the period.Currently, the platform has data on 19 countries in Africa and is expected to expand to the rest of the continent and eventually the rest of the world.The online tool will analyse sales, employment and exports and also show government incentives given to various sectors. The database also shows linkages between domestic and foreign companies, investor perceptions among others.The IMP has interactive data visualisation

tools such as pie charts, bubble charts and heat maps, helping the user to easily draw comparisons. It has a built-in online report generator and devices for information-sharing of research results.UN is seeking to have more companies participate in the survey in order to ease data collection. Participating companies can showcase their products on the platform. The data also ranks top performers, foreign and local. The platform will also help companies to map out suitable investment destinations by tracking changes in policy environment in various countries, helping them to grow their investments.It will also show the effect of the investments in terms of jobs created, wages paid and value-addition to the economy.

NEWS

Nairobi water board intends to use part of the Shs. 26.4 billion loan from World Bank to drill tunnels to link three

Murang’a Rivers to Ndakaini Dam and boost water supply in Nairobi.The dam is the largest source of water to the city and the new projects will increase daily supply by 20 per cent. The World Bank henceforth said that it approved the funding by the International Development Agency, its soft-term lending arm.Part of the funds would be spent on drilling tunnels to tap water from Maragwa, Gikigie and Irati Rivers for Ndakaini Dam in Murang’a County. The Government plans to build a dam at Maragwa in a future phase.The Athi Water Services Board said that it would build a new treatment plant in Ngirungo Area of Ruiru to process the additional 200 cubic metres of water. The project will increase daily water supply from the current 500 cubic metres to more than 600 cubic metres. This is the single largest investment in the water sector since Ndakaini Dam was completed in 1994.

“The new plant will help increase water supply and reduce pressure on the only treatment plant at Ng’ethu,” said Athi Water Service Board Chief Executive Malaquen Milgo.The board intends to start building the Gatharaini Trunk Sewer line that will cover Kasarani, Githurai, Thome and Zimmerman areas.Mr. Milgo said that the board will receive Shs. 14.4 billion ($ 180 million) of the Shs. 26.4 billion loan to improve the water supply and sewer systems in the city while the remaining Shs. 12 billion goes to the Coast Water Services Board and Water Services Regulatory Board and other municipalities.The increased activities in the property market in the past decade have left the City Council of Nairobi unable to meet rising demand for water and sewerage services.Increased population and dilapidated water supply systems have resulted in rationing that has seen the poor pay more to buy from vendors.“The Nairobi metropolitan region is already home to 17 per cent of the Kenya’s population, and migration to

Board Taps Shs. 26 Billion World Bank Loan to Boost City’s Water Supply

the city is continuing at a rapid pace,” said Johannes Zutt, World Bank Country Director for Kenya. “This project will help Nairobi to meet its enormous needs for infrastructure and services, so that it remains a livable and business friendly city as well as an engine of future economic growth.”The project will complement other programmes being implemented to improve the quality of life in Nairobi, including t he Kenya Municipal Programme and the Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project, which have each received $100 million from the World Bank funding.The programme will be expanded to focus on other areas such as the Coast and Lake Victoria North Water Services Boards.These include Nairobi and Mombasa cities, and the fast growing municipalities, which are experiencing high demand for water, sanitation and other services due to rapid urbanization.The government will contribute Shs. 24 billion while the World Bank recently approved the $300 million loan for the projects.


NEWS

Ga r i s s a t o w n w i l l b e connected to the national grid within two years ending

decades of dependency on diesel generated power. Although it sits on the banks of the River Tana which feeds Kindaruma dam one of the power generating dams built on the River. A 224 kilometre single circuit transmission line will be constructed from Kindaruma power station will be constructed through Mwingi town and onwards to Garissa.The project is among one of four electricity expansion projects the World Bank has funded through a shs. 3.9 billion deal with Kenya Power to be implemented in Eastern, Rift Valley and Nyanza regions by the year 2014.Th e o t h e r p r o j e c t s i n c l u d e construction of a 60 kilometre 132 KV power line from Eldoret substation and a Kitale substation to boost supply in Kitale which is currently classified as unable supply.“Kitale experiences eratic supply due to the long distances covered by the supply system from Eldoret,” said Kenya Power managing director Joseph Njoroge at a recent signing ceremony in Nairobi.

Garissa Expects To Get Hydro Power In 2014


A row has emerged over people selected by the Ministry of Energy to represent the residents of a coal basin in

Kitui County in a tour of China.Members of Mui Community Liaison Committee have denounced the team that is due to leave for China for a study tour on the impact of coal mining.The liaison committee claims the selection was not done in consultation with the residents of Zombe, Mutitu and Kitui Central Division. They have petit ioned the Energy Permanent Secretary over the issue.A Mombasa-based lawyer Mike Mulei, who is a member of the committee, said those selected for the trip do not represent the community.Mulei said the residents are not happy with the way the coal mining project is being handled. He said the community fears that their interests may not be taken care of.

Tour of China Coal Fields Fuels Wrangles in Kitui

Another member, Charles Syanda, said he had filed a petition with Energy PS Patrick Nyoike over the matter on behalf of the committee and the affected community. He said he had sent an email to the PS and expected that “the fake delegates will be expunged”.Syanda said the petition followed a meeting of the liaison committee members held on May, 7th over the China tour. The petition was signed by Jehu Mutemi and Syanda, the committee chairman and vice chairman respectively, with four other members of the liaison committee.“To our dismay, we learned of the trip to China scheduled for May 12, 2012 which includes wrong representation from Block A and,” the letter to Nyoike said. It questioned why the committee members were not involved in selecting those visiting China.

NEWS


T he Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limi ted (KPRL) wi l l buy new blends o f c rude to boost profitability once it

begins importing its own products for processing.Currently, the refinery mainly processes the more expensive Murban crude to produce a range of products, including petrol.

Refinery to Buy New Crude Blends After Upgrading

Murban took up 99.68 per cent of the 1.73 million tonnes of crude oil shipped into the country for processing in 2011, according to statistics by the Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA).This could change after July 1 when the refinery converts to a merchant facility that buys its own crude, processes it and sells refined products for the local and export markets. Presently, KPRL acts like

a toll refinery where it processes crude oil on behalf of oil marketers for a fee.“Murban crude is more expensive than other blends and that affects margins,” said KPRL managing director Bimal Mukherjee. “There are other cheaper blends that can be used to give desired products.”Analysis said that though Murban has for long been sought by refiners for its yield

NEWS


of diesel, deman for it has been failing due to lower profits.“Most people go for what best suits them in terms of margins. Refining is about value addition, it’s better to have an affordable raw material and improve it to the best quality and sell the end product at a reasonable price,” Mr. Mohammed Baraka, a consultant on petroleum issues, said.

The conversion of KPRL into merchant status will push its management to maximize on margins to stay profitable. Once the refinery starts processing its own crude, the move will free marketers to buy products from other international refineries as opposed to the current structure that requires them to process about 50 per cent of the monthly demand at the refinery.

“KPRL will now have to be positive to market demands by picking the best selection crude that will fetch it returns,” Mr. Baraka said. Last month KPRL said it had revised its upgrade programme and would focus on changing the model of the facility.Mr. Mukherjee said they would negotiate with financiers for an urgent disbursement of $400 million (Shs. 33.2 billion) to fund conversion of the facility to the new model.The funds will be part of the $1 billion (Shs. 83 billion) required to fully upgrade the refinery. “We intend to tweak our earlier plans and give priority to converting the refinery into merchant status,” Mr. Mukherjee said. Conversion of the refinery into merchant status was postponed twice. Prime Minister Raila Odinga said last month that the planned conversion of the refinery was delayed due to lack of legal instruments.“Once the government has the laws in place we will push financiers to have the initial disbursement to fund the conversion of the refinery. The rest of the upgrade project work will follow later,” Mr. Mukherjee, who represents India’s Essar Oil and Gas that won control of the refinery two years ago, said last month.The ownership of the plant is split between the government and Essar after Shell BP and Chevron put up their combined shareholding under a block sale.After the upgrade KPRL is expected to produce two and half times its current annual production.The plant will be upgraded for the first time since 1994 to produce four millions tonnes from the current 1.6 million tonnes. It will also provide water desalination facilities and ensure that its products comply with international environmental standards.

‘The conversion of KPRL into merchant status will push its management to maximize on margins to stay profitable.

NEWS


K enyas’ electricity generating company KenGen plans to raise funds from private investors for a $686 million gas-fired

power plant to run on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), Managing Director Eddy Njoroge said late May.KenGen, which relies largely on hydro power, said the plant would help meet the growing demand for electricity and help prevent frequent blackouts in East Africa’s biggest economy caused by generation shortfalls and an ageing grid.The company plans to raise the money for the project due by 2015 by appealing to private investors, and also expects the government to contribute capital.“We are now exploring ways to finance the project,” Njoroge told Reuters.“We have not raised any funds yet, but we are working closely with the PPP unit (private public partnership) on how we can structure the project to be implemented as a PPP project.”The PPPs have become a popular method for financing infrastructure projects in recent years following the government s’ lack of funds.

Kengen Eyes $686 Million Gas Fired Power Plant

Under similar agreements, private entities and government both contribute capital for projects.However, unlike other arrangements, PPPs usually end up with the government as the owner of the asset.To be based at the port city of Mombasa, the plant will be fuelled by LNG processed at a facility located nearby and will reduce over-reliance on the more costly fuel oil KenGen has resorted to during dry spells.Kenya last October said it planned to float a tender for a LNG terminal at Mombasa. Construction is expected to take up to 5 years.KenGen generates a total of 1.414 MW from a mix of thermal, renewable energy and existing hydropower dams, while Kenya’s electricity consmpution stands at 1,200 MW and is rising fast as the country strives to become industrialized.Njoroge said he expects the plant to provide 485 megawatts to the country and to have an economic life of 20 years.Once in production, the plant may be aided by several large natural gas finds off the coast of Tanzania and Mozambique.

Nairobi could be the home of a flying school following plans by a local aviation firm

to establish a hi-tech flying school.Aircaraft Leasing Services (ALS) is spear heading efforts to establish a modern flying school in Kenya which will come with a new private airport.ALS, based at Wilson Airport has teamed up Kenya School of Flying to construct a new flying school on the outskirts of Nairobi, between Kiserian and Isinya. According to the chairman ALS, Aslam Khan the multi-billion project has already started with the construction of Orly Airpark already underway.The private airport will serve as training grounds for the Orly Aeronautical University (OAU).OAU will issue both Kenyan and European. In a statement, Aslam said that they are also in talks with Falcon Flight Training Academy in Biggin Hill, England for collaboration in training.Considering plans in place for the country in the next 10 years, more pilots will be needed than there already are. Recent developments like the LAPSSET corridor will involve development of an air strip that will need pilots and other crew members to operate the airlines. In Africa, about 20,000 pilots will be needed in the next ten years. New markets like the newly formed Southern Sudan and are expected to also creating new airlines. Kenya Airways, Africa’s leading airline also has expansion plans which will create more demand for more pilots.

A Modern Flying School to be Established in Kenya

NEWS


SAFARICOM pretax profit dropped by 5.4 percent for the full-year ending March 31st to post Shs. 17.37 billion compared to Shs.

18.3 billion the previous year, due to higher financing costs and the impact of foreign exchange volatility.However higher call charges and impressive returns for M-Pesa cushioned the company from anticipated higher drop in profit.Profit after tax was down 4.04 percent to stand at Shs. 12.63 billion compared to Shs. 13.6 billion the previous year. This is the third year in row that Safaricom’s profit has recorded a slow down.“Safaricom operates in an increasingly tough environment characterized by low voice tariffs, intense inflationary pressure, high borrowing costs and foreign exchange fluctuations,” said Chief Executive Bob Collymore. He said foreign exchange fluctuations wiped out Shs. 1.1 billion from their profit, while high fuel prices in the first half of the year, and high interest rates in

Safaricom Profit Drops Marginally

the second half drove up operating and financing costs respectively.Collymore said the main expenditures were in fixed data, 3G equipment, fibre cables, and the upgrade of the existing 2G coverage to support the growing number of customers, noting that mobile data customers increased by 31 per cent to Shs. 4.6 million.Total revenues went up 13 per cent to Shs. 107 billion up from Shs. 94.8 the previous year, driven by significant

M-Pesa and other data services, which recorded a 27 per cent growth, representing 29 per cent of the total revenues.M-Pesa earned Shs. 16.9 billion, an increase of 43 per cent over the previous year and additional 6 per cent customers joined the money transfer service to make a total of 14.9 million subscribers.“M-Pesa will continue to play a pivotal role in the financial inclusion in the country through expansion and introduction of various financial products through partnership with financial institutions,” Collymore said.Voice services revenue recorded an unprecedented growth of 8.9 per cent attributed to increased Average Revenue Per User during the period in review, as customer base grew by 11 per cent to 19.1 million subscribers.Earnings per share slid 3 percent to Shs. 0.32 compared to the previous year. The Directors have recommended a full-year dividend of Shs. 0.22 a share, up 10 per cent compared to previous year.

‘Voice services revenue recorded an unprecedented growth of 8.9 per cent attributed to increased Average Revenue Per User

Safaricom House

NEWSNEWSPICTORIAL

Hon. Dalmas Otieno (centre) together with other guests touring the Kenya Engineer booth during the conference

Hon. Dalmas Otieno touring the Housing Finance booth

Representatives of Power Technics explaininga point to the chief guest

Representatives of KeRRA explaininga point to the chief guest

The chief guest at the CESP booth

19th ENGINEERS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - 2012


NEWSPICTORIAL

Hon. Franklin Bett (right) receives an honorary membership award from IEK

MRM CEO presents a 1 million Shillings cheque to IEK

Former IEK Chairman Eng. D.M Wanjau handing over to the new chairman J.M Riungu

Guests follow proceedings at the conference

CIC Chairman Charles Nyachae addressing the delegates at the conference

19th ENGINEERS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - 2012



The regulatory framework for efficient and affordable water supply systems for counties by Robert Gakubia, CEO Water Services Regulatory Board (Kenya).

Over the past ten to fifteen years regulation has started to play a bigger and more important role in the water sector globally. Two trends exist: - First, an increasing number of regulatory

International Conference for the Engineers 2012: Engineers Taking Lead in the Constitution Implimentation.

Below are absracts of some of the papers that were presented in the just conclude Engineers confrence. The full papers will be published in the next edition of the magazine.

functions and agencies are being established. Utilities come under the mandate of these regulators. Second, existing regulators broaden their scope. Regulators no longer only regulate only large utilities but also include small-scale private providers, such as kiosk operators, community cooperatives and water vendors.The Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) was established in 2003

as a state corporation following the enactment of the Water Act 2002. As the regulator, it oversees the implementation of policies and strategies relating to provision of water and sanitation services. Furthermore, it sets rules and enforces standards that guide the sector towards ensuring that consumers are protected and have access to efficient, adequate, affordable and sustainable services. WASREB seeks to ensure that

CONFERENCE

Guests following the proceedings at the conference


consumer protection is balanced with commercial viability of service provision. The latter relates to the ability of service providers to fully recover their operations and maintenance and investment costs in order to sustain the adequate provision of water and sanitation services in the long run.The rationale for regulation is usually to balance various competing interests (e.g. financial sustainability of the utility versus public welfare and tariff affordability). The building blocks of regulation come from its basic concept: Regulation helps to get services to the people at an affordable tariff while supporting the utility’s need to be efficient, effective and sustainable. Transparent conduct is important in a regulatory environment: A regulatory agency publishes the principles, procedures and sometimes even the financial models upon which it will base its decisions; it will require the utility to report its performance on key indicators; and public hearings will be required to inform the public.The important principle to keep in mind when working with a regulatory agency is that of collaborative conduct. A good regulator does not make arbitrary decisions but bases them on clear merits and principles.The goal of this presentation is to provide a basic understanding of the functions, benefits and guiding principles of regulation. The presentation also aims to communicate the regulatory framework for water services provision under the devolved Government (i.e.) what the counties can expect when being “regulated” in water services provision and focusing on how to work together with a regulator.

Challenges to plans for modern high speed high capacity railway development in Kenya and the region by Nduva Muli, Managing Director Kenya Railways (Kenya).

There are robust plans in Kenya as well as within the region to develop inter-city high speed, high capacity Standard Gauge Railways for freight and passengers. In addition, there are plans to develop commuter rail services within

and around major cities. These plans are intended to increase transport capacity within the majority of the counties in Kenya as well as within the region. The existing transport infrastructure has proved to be inadequate for the volumes of transportable freight in the country and within the region causing perennial congestion at the Port of Mombasa and in the Northern Corridor. The New Railways will reduce the cost of doing business within the Region. The trunk routes planes include: Mombasa – Kampala/Kisumu; Nairobi – Addis Ababa; Lamu – Juba; Dar-es-Salaam – Isaka – Kigali – Msongati – Bujumbura.

The ra i l commuter serv ices are planned for Nairobi Metropolitan, the Lake Region and the Coast Province.These railways are already at design stage and should soon move on to development stage. However, several challenges have been identified that will require to be addressed in order to realize the projects timeously. These include: Buy-in by stakeholders,Green field – learning rapidly from mistakes made and providing solutions,Green

field – securing the railway corridors and locations for workshops, depots and passenger stations, Funding for infrastructure, Funding for rolling stock and operations,Fast tracking procurement process, Identifying suitable source of energy, Providing railway expertise. These challenges and others will be discussed along with possible mitigation.

Reforms in the road sector in Kenya by Joseph N Nkadayo, Director General Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kenya).

Road transport sector in Kenya accounts for over 93 percent of the country’s transport need. Despite this enormous load, most roads have been poorly managed and maintained in the past. For instance, paved road network in Kenya requires major interventions estimated at Kshs. 158 billion as per the Road Subsector Investment Programme (R.I.S.P.). These interventions include total rehabilitation and reconstruction of several kilometers of failed road pavements. Moreover, maintenance

CONFERENCE

Karanja Kabage of Nuclear Electricity Pro-ject Committee addressing the conference


being a very important aspect of road management has not been fully emphasized. This in effect has resulted in the increased deterioration of the country’s road network which today cannot be adequately handled with the scarce resources available. Road maintenance backlog due to insufficient is in excess of 1 billion Kenya Shillings annually. In order to address these teething problems coupled with the need to sustain increasing role of road transport in developing countries such as Kenya, the roads sub-sector has to undergone reforms.For instance, in 1992, the Government of Kenya adopted the Road Management Initiative (RMI), a component of the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP), which is a collaborative framework set up to improve transport policies and strengthen institutional capacity in the Africa region. Experience gained under the RMI, suggested a commercia l izat ion road asset management based on the four basic building blocks focusing on: (i) creating ownership (ii) stabilizing road financing (iii) clarifying responsibility and (iv) strengthening management of roads.Reforms in Kenya based on RMI included establishment of Road Maintenance Levy Fund in 1993 to ensure sustained maintenance of existing road network;

Enactment of Kenya Roads Board Act in 1999 to manage Fuel Levy; and Enactment of Kenya Roads Act, 2007 to bring ownership, responsibility and commercialized management of Roads sub0sector. The Kenya Roads, 2007 gave overall responsibility for management of entire road network to the Ministry of Roads through five agencies namely Kenya National Highways Authority (KenHA); Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA); Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA); Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) and Kenya Roads Board (KRB).With the promulgation of the constitution of Kenya, 2010, the roads in the country were effectively reclassified as county and national roads. As a result of this development, several reforms have to be instituted to clearly define the management of the roads under the new dispensation.However, as transition takes place in the road subsector, it is imperative to take note of the challenges enumerated below:Inadequate funding: - The road network within the county governments is expansive requiring high capital outlay. But with current funding arrangement, the sources of funds are limited. This calls for well-informed prioritization of road works.Inadequate human resource: - there is

inadequate human resource capacity in the country to adequately handle the enormous road works especially at the county level. Several technocrats must be availed to effectively deal with the impeding workload at the county governments.Low contractor capacity: - Most of the local contractors are inexperienced and lack resources to deal with the workload.Axle load compliance: - Cases of overloading on the Kenyan roads are high and there is urgent need to have capacity to tame this vice.The experience of reforms in the road sub-sector clearly shows that the success of reforms depends on how the process is applied, and by whom, rather than how the contents are formulated. Sustained information and education on road sector reform is needed to generate wider political and public understanding as well as support as the country prepares for the decentralized road provision services at county level. It is the role of Engineers to provide this information and education on road sub-sector reforms, to ensure that the gains are not overlooked.

Exploring Counties options for managing environment and opportuni t ies presented by County Governments by Rose Mathenge, Kenya Electricity Generation Company Limited (Kenya).

CONFERENCE

Delegates at the conference following keenly


County Managers will face numerous challenges in managing the new counties. Different counties will likely face issues that are not fundamentally different such as environmental, poverty, food insecurity, unemployment, and drug abuse problems. Though the issues may not be fundamentally different, but extent and the solutions may be different because each county will require solving locally interrelated problems. To achieve tailor made solutions the counties need to involve the residents in identifying problems, decision making and implementation of policies.For a dynamic development of the county the focus of the county managers need be institutions and emerging priorities as indentified by residents. The county managers in consultation with residents need to develop a strategic vision for the county. Once a strategic vision is developed these institutions should get a chance to make their contribution. The numerous challenges expected while rolling out decentralization can be turned to opportunities of improving the county. The main challenges offer great opportunity for counties to leap frog to greater a accelerate to greater level of development.In this paper, I will look at various challenges, opportunities available and explore ways the counties can enhance environmental management within their area of jurisdiction.

Statistical modeling of the factors affecting limestone grinding by R J Kiprono and J R Ochola, School of Engineering Moi University (Kenya).

Particle size reduction is an essential process in mineral procession as well as cement manufacturing. It serves to reduce the coarse material to finer sizes in line with the process requirements in downstream stages. The process is however energy intensive consuming 3 – 4% of electrical energy generated worldwide and comprising up to 70% of all energy requirements in a typical cement processing plant. The objective of this paper was to use statistical modeling techniques to model the factors that influence practice size

reduction in limestone processing. The study involved application of microwave energy to induce thermal cracks in ore rock samples before their use in mechanical breakage method. The tests were performed using limestone as the ore rock. The experimental method used in the study involved dropping a mass to impact on the limestone material and the mass distributions of the broken fragments were determined. The time the samples took in the oven, breakage energy, sieve size and temperatures of the oven were recorded alongside the mass loss of each sample. The research established a statistical model to predict the mass loss in limestone processing and used Monte Carlo technique to analyse the sensitivity of the model.

I n v e s t i g a t i o n o f p o z z o l a n i c characteristics of municipal solid waste in soil stabilization by Fundi S I, R O Onchiri, N K Maritim, K Shepherd and S Waweru, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology Moi University (Kenya).

This paper describes the pozzolanicity characteristics of municipal solid waste ash (MSWA) generated from JKUAT and

burned in a modified incinerator. The total X-Ray florescence (TXRF) analysis indicated the ash to contain high levels of calcium (220240mg/kg) with its mercury concentration level (23.76 mg/kg) slightly exceeding the maximum allowable of 23 mg/kg as provided in the public health guidelines. From the X-Ray diffraction peaks, MSWA has calcite as the main oxide (57.6%) with its glass halos ranging from 200 to 500 two-theta. The high calcium carbonate content has been caused by the carbonation of calcium which is also in high amounts in MSWA. However, the total amounts of SiO2, AL2O3, and Fe2O3 were less than 70%, categorizing the ash as Class F pozzolana. Laser diffraction particle size analysis showed the ash to be clay, with its possibility distribution function depicting a bimodal curve. This study found that MSWA is not self cementing and has high loss of ignition (83.49%). Despite the low SiO2 content as compared to cement, MSWA has high CaCO3 content enabling it to contribute to bonding effect of the ash. It is recommended that MSWA has to be sieved as finely as possible prior to use as a pozzolanic material in soil stabilization. This would increase both

CONFERENCE

Hon Chris Obure delivering a speech to the delegates

NEWS

the filler effect (through better packing characteristics of the smaller particles) and the bonding effect resulting from a high CaCO3 content.

Aircraft identification using moment invariant features and Bayesian decision theory classification by Dickson G Wambaa and E Mwangi, University of Nairobi (Kenya).

The ability to reliably indentify aircraft is an important aspect of air traffic safety. Civilian air traffic controllers need to be constantly updated on the status of aircraft moving through the local airspace. In military scenarios, the need to reliably identify aircraft is even more stringent since erroneous identification could easily result in friendly fire incidents. In the present study aircraft satellite images are indentified using Bayesian decision theory classification is supervised in order to reduce the identification error rate and it is a

very practical approach to this kind of learning problem. Also each training example increases the probability that the classifications. Invariance to translation, scaling and rotation allows considerable robustness when applied to satellite images of aircrafts. The satellite images are normally contaminated by speckle noise and frost filter has been applied in the image enhancement stage. The study is demonstrated by numerical Matlab simulation performed using 2D aircraft images.

P i n c h t e c h n o l o g y : U s i n g thermodynamics to optimize utility usage in a plant by Duncan L Ndenga (Kenya).

In the new constitution Environmental r i g h t s h ave b e e n e l e va t e d t o Constitutional/Fundamental Rights, now enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Since the Constitution is the supreme law of the

Republic, it binds all persons and state organs and any law that is inconsistent with it is null and void (Article 2 of the Constitution).The principle of sustainable development has since been entrenched in Article 10 2 (d) of the Constitution as one of the National values and principles of governance. The Constitution also guarantees the right to a clean and healthy environment at Article 42.Energy consumption and green house gases (GHG) emissions are the twin environmental issues that this paper looks at. It looks at optimizing heating and cooling utilities for a plant thereby reducing energy consumption and green house gas emissions.Process-integration techniques based on pinch technology represent a powerful way to optimize process designs, yielding results superior to those achievable using conventional methods. These techniques permit the design engineer to track the energy flows in a manufacturing process more clearly and to modify the


CONFERENCE

Eng. DM Wanjau(Left),Hon Chris Obure(Centre) and Hon. Franklin Bett (Right) listenting at the conference

process to reduce energy consumption. Pinch technology enables the design of an optimum interface between the process and the utility systems using thermodynamics.It has been well-established that the energy and capital costs of a heat exchanger network are both dependent u p o n t h e m i n i m u m a l l owa b l e temperature approach **Tmin. The point where **Tmin is observed is known as the “Pinch” and recognizing its implications allows energy targets to be realized in practice. Once the pinch has been indentified, it is possible to consider the process as two separate systems: one above and one below the pinch. The system above the pinch required a heat input and is therefore a net heat sink. Below the pinch, the system rejects heat and so is a net heat source.In conclusion pinch technology uses thermodynamics (**Tmin) to target the utility requirements of a plant thereby optimizing the hot and cold utility requirements and reducing the fuel requirement.Agro-processing, an engine to fuel agricultural development and improve

incomes in the counties by Mwamzali Shiribwa, Institution of Engineers of Kenya (Kenya).The agricultural sector in Kenya is dominated by primary products with little on-farm and off farm processing. Whereas other model countries have higher levels of processing such as Thailand with 30%, Philippines 78%, and Malaysia 83%, the levels of processing in Kenya is less than 4%.There are compelling reasons to drive agricultural development in the countries through agro-processing and value addition. To improve incomes in the devolved counties, agro-processing and value addition will be one of the key drivers. Agro-processing will provided opportunities to reduce farm losses by conversion of perishable produce to longer shield life produce. More avenues will be opened to use by-products as source of raw materials for other farm operations such as animal feed, manure and fuel.This paper is presented to simulate engineers to consider processing as a viable method of increasing value on agricultural raw materials.


Engineering entrepreneurship in the building industry by Nick Evans, Kizuli Limited (Kenya).

It is common knowledge that clean air, law and order, transport infrastructure are necessary commodities but cannot be sold and directly to customers. In an ideal world, the state would deliver all the common goods that are need but this does not happen.The genius successful business people is in giving customers what they want. That is, they find a way of converting an economic need to a commercial demand. Th i s has a t leas t two implications for economic development in county administrations in Kenya. First land must be zoned for commercial and manufacturing purposes and second engineers should apply their skills to commercial production. This paper is a case study on how this can be achieved. It is based on the author experience in making formwork for floor slabs in precast concrete rather than using timber in order to reduce cost. The idea has led into a thriving enterprise with presence in three provinces.

CONFERENCE

The CEO Mabati Rolling Mills (MRM) the gold sponsordemonstrates the long association of their products to the engineers


LOCAL CONTRACTORS

Introduction:The construction industry in Kenya has no doubt significantly increased in the past 5 years. With this trend, a number of foreign contractors also have entered into the industry. Although this development is welcome, a closer look shows the negative side.With strict rules being placed from donors for these projects, a great number of major projects have been awarded to the foreign contractors, who often price their tenders low to edge the local contractors. In the process, many local contractors have remained inactive, and as a result have laid down their workforce to cut down on their overheads. Often the foreign contractors roll into action with their own workforce, and thus employment opportunities for local engineers have declined.A major trend going on is the choice by the Employer to award tenders to the lowest priced, therefore denying a more responsive bidder who had priced its tender higher. With this in mind, the local contractors have begun pricing their tenders extremely low in order to

win. When projects are tendered very low or undervalued, the delivery of the project is compromised. Often the projects are commissioned incomplete, time of completion is extended, use of poor materials that do not comply to required specifications are utilized as contractors want to maximize profits. To cut down on their costs, they also employ unqualified personnel. Disputes under such arrangements are inevitable.It is therefore high time that the major Employers in Kenya like the Ministry of Roads and the Ministry of Water & Irrigation reviewed their procurement models and rethink construction in order to safeguard the interest of local contractors without compromising their own interests. The most popular pricing method being practiced in Kenya is the Remeasurable.

RemeasurableThis form is adopted in the FIDIC 4th Old Red Book. For this method, the employer accepts the risk of variations in the quantities originally estimated and

in some cases, for the rates and prices tendered. At the tender stage, prospective contractors would fill in a proposed unit price or rate for each item and the contract price is calculated by adding the priced items in the bill of quantities. Payment of the contractor for the value of the works completed is in accordance with the contract. Therefore, the bill of quantities, which consists of a number of items and a certain quantity to each item, is a key contractual and pricing document.In giving a firm price, the Contractor enters into obligations to perform the work for that price. These are his obligations but his motivation is to maximize his profit. This is why he is in business. From the moment the contract is signed, the Employer and the Contractor are, to a degree, adversaries. The common purpose is completion of the contract but the Contractor, healthily pursuing his own interests, must do so at the best possible return to himself. There would have to be very special provisions in the contract if this best

Saving the Local Contractors From Foreign Giants

By Dr. S.N. OsanoLecturer, University of Nairobi, Email – [email protected]

Dr. S.N. Osano is a Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, University of Nairobi, in the field of Geotechnical Engineering and Project Management. He has published various articles in slope stability and supervised many constructions projects while working with contractors.


LOCAL CONTRACTORS

possible return was achieved by finishing ahead of time and at a lower cost to the Employer. Probability and experience prove the contrary. In many cases the cost and time over-run are such that whereas the Employer believed that he knew the extent of his commitments at the time of placing a contract, the out-turn is in fact quite different.With the above in mind, we therefore conclude that the remeasurable form of procurement is not attractive. The employer and contractor’s interests are not taken care of as each tries to outweigh the other.A better solution is to adopt the cost-reimbursable contracts;Cost-reimbursableThere are different forms of cost-reimbursable type of contracts as described below;• Cost plus percentage rate contract: In tendering for work on a “Cost Plus” basis, the contractor is paid the actual cost of the work, plus an agreed percentage in addition, to allow for profit.• Cost plus fixed fee contract: In this type of contract, the contractor is paid by the owner an agreed lump-sum amount over and above the actual cost of work.• Cost plus fluctuating fee contract:In this type of contract, the contractor is paid by the owner the actual cost of construction plus an amount of fee inversely variable according to the increase or decrease of the estimated cost agreed first by both the parties.• Target Contract: This is the type of contract where the contractor is paid on a cost-plus percentage work performed under this contract. In addition, he receives a percentage plus or minus on savings or excess effected against either a prior agreed estimate of total cost or a target value arrived at by measuring the work on completion and valuing at prior agreed rates.Here, the employer accepts the entire risk of carrying out the work and the contractor is reimbursed for the actual cost of carrying it out plus a fee, which in effect is an additional amount of money in respect of profit, head office and risk.

There is no applicable FIDIC form for this pricing method. Given its rather special nature, the engineer’s powers, for example, in the Old Red Book and the FIDIC 1999 New Red Book, will require modification.Cost-reimbursable contracts have many advantages for both Employer and Contractor. These include flexibility to change, fairer apportionment of risk, potential saving in the time and cost of tendering, enhancing growth of local contractors by guarantying them profit and a reduction in the resources of all parties expanded on claims. One of the greatest benefits is the opportunity for the Employer to establish a common objective for both parties to a contract, with the added advantage that design and construction can coincide leading to early completion reducing the inflation effect on capital cost and to some extent interest charges on borrowings. A further advantage in the case of a hydro plant or other revenue earning utilities is the benefit of receiving early income from sales.

Basic Principles of cost-reimbursableThe Conditions of Contract are the FIDIC or similar conditions suitably amended to suit the particular circumstances of the project.• Selection of Contractors is purely

on responsiveness, i.e. a Contractor is chosen on the basis that it has adequate financial resources to perform a contract, is able to comply with the associated legal or regulatory requirements, is able to deliver according to the contract schedule, has a history of satisfactory performance, has good reputation regarding integrity, has or can obtain necessary data, equipment, and facilities, and is otherwise eligible and qualified to receive award if its bid is chosen

• A target cost for the project is proposed by the contractor, then checked and agreed by the Employer. This target, which does not include any profit for the Contractor, becomes the principal instrument in budgetary control of the Works and

is updated at regular intervals until the end of the work when a Final Target Cost is established.

• A schedule and target time for completion are agreed, and these are regularly updated to take cognizance of any new circumstances arising during the currency of the contract.

• Similarly a Performance Target is agreed.

• Payment of the actual cost of the work as it is incurred is made from a fund established under the financial provisions of the contract. These payments are limited to the actual net at of the Work including the Contractor’s overhead costs.

• The Contractor receives a fee for his services, the amount of which is related to his services against the agreed targets and is the only payment to him, which allows for his profit. It is customary for the Contractor to be assured a stated minimum fee. However, additional specific bonuses can be built into a Target for early completion or the Employer might desire other special incentives to be incorporated.

ConclusionsThe cost-reimbursable models ensures that contractors are guaranteed profit. By guaranteeing the contractor profit, he will be able to employ more workforces in order to meet his obligations, and thus create employment opportunities. Project are completed with the necessary materials complying to specifications as the contractors are not worried about compromising quality to make profit as all the materials procured under the project as instructed by the Engineer will be reimbursed plus profits. As the Engineer’s Registration Board does not currently register engineers who practice with contractors due to perception that the training enhanced is not sufficient to persuade the board, this position may be reviewed, as now the contractor becomes more professional and not just ‘representing the business-end of construction’. Most of our young engineers practicing with contractors will thus benefit greatly.

NEWS


PIEZOELECTRICITY

I t is no longer fiction that we can put on garments that generate electricity. The broad implication is that by some technology, the motions of

daily life can cause our garments to generate electricity, which will run small electronics like radios, watches, computers and cell phones. A budding graduate from Mombasa Polytechnic University College, Anthony Mutua has come up with a way that will enable you generate electricity from your daily motions.Mutua’s innovation shows how you can use the pressure you apply on your shoes when you step on them not to wear out the soles but to power your phone. He says that through a process that he has patented with the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), he can use an immensely tiny chip of crystal to generate power when under pressure.This concept has however existed with us for more than millennia. The problem that normally accompanies it is its limit in terms of quantity of power it can generate and the convenience of its use. Its needs a constant input of force from motion in order to generate power. With the advent of new technology and constant research, these shortfalls can be overcome. Current research and development worldwide is focused on the behavior of materials at the nano level. Nano simply means one billionth. Materials at this level exhibit many interesting characteristics that when understood properly could lead to several breakthroughs in fields of engineering and sciences like material engineering. The nano technology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. One of the inventions from this technology is the nanogenerator.It contains tiny zinc oxide wires that create electricity when they are bent. Five hundred zinc oxide nanowires are placed side by side each with the width of only about one human hair. The nanowires are placed on a flexible polymer film. The polymer layers are then arranged in a sandwich-like structure to create a nanogenerator. One zinc oxide wire creates a small amount of electricity, but there are millions of

the wires in a nanogenerator the latest generating 3 volts. In the future, nanogenerators may be placed inside the body where the heartbeat, the activity of the breathing muscles or even the flow of blood could trigger electricity production, which could then be used to drive medical instruments like pace setters. On

garments, nanogenerators can be used to power all sorts of devices like iPods and phones. Nanogenerators may also be placed in the soles of shoes so that a person’s footsteps will compress the piezoelectric substance and generate electricity. They would be a very easy to carry and a convenient source of power for our personal electronics.

Piezoelectricity to Charge Cell Phones Now and Beyond

By Felix Aringo and Peninah Njakwe

“Power your phone using your shoes”

NEWS


Piezoelectricity to Charge Cell Phones Now and BeyondThe present piezoelectric devices work well but still have the Achilles heel that plagued the initial ideas –limit in production and storage. The power and the voltage of these generators must increase. Researchers hope to incorporate more nanowires on to each polymer layer and to stack more layers together to create a better generator.

Mutua runs his business in the Central Business District here in Nairobi. The device can be fitted for you, all for a humble Kshs3, 800 at his place of work. The gadget and its two years of warranty becomes yours and you have the liberty to fix it into your new shows as you deem fit. The National Council of Science and Technology is out to help commercialize

Mutua’s project as they already had help in the research and development to the tune of Kshs.500, 000. The National Science and Technology Council commends the innovations of the likes Mutua as they could serve Kenya immensely in bringing to light new ideas and get rid of the murky poverty that entraps and strangles innovative ideas.

PIEZOELECTRICITY

NEWS


ESA

Kenya is on a developing trend when it comes to technology and there is no limit to how much we can do to achieve

technological goals. Science and technology plays a pivotal role in the development of the economic pillar as stipulated in development blueprint, ‘Vision 2030’ as we know it. Some of those responsible of the creative innovations happen to be young upcoming engineers. Kenya Engineer met with Charles Omondi whose innovations could be the World’s next big thing. From a humble background in Awasi, Nyanza, Charles innovation ability was realized in 2008 and since then he has come up with a number of innovations. One of them is a transformer guard to curb the high rate of transformer oil theft. This has an alarm system which produces warning signals in case of theft and also sends a coded message to alert the electricity company of such theft. Another innovation he has developed is a fire system. Whenever there is a fire break out, the system is able to produce an alarm and send a voice code to alert the fire fighters. In such instances, it also cuts off electricity supply in the whole building thereby reducing its spread through electricity supply line.His latest innovation, which he refers to as a life changer, is a secure remote controlled door locking and opening mechanism. It has the ability to open doors automatically which comes in handy during fire outbreaks. Using the remote, the door can be locked and unlocked from within a radius of 150metres which is the coverage area. It works as an advance cell phone with a specialized SIM card and a security code.

“Lock and Unlock your House With a Remote”

The Celebrated Innovators…

By Felix Aringo and Peninah Njakwe

Charles Omondi

NEWS


ESA

‘

Access to the lock can be controlled by the master phone by adding or deleting numbers from the lock’s memory system. Numbers not on the lock’s memory cannot be used to operate the lock and by this the owner can control the lock system such that it cannot be manipulated from outside.A key can also be used instead of a remote for instance when the remote is misplaced or lost. Key functions can be activated or deactivated by the cell phone. Once on the key mode, a press switch is used to open. In case of a bang or undue pressure on the door, a unit on the system can detect this, immediately activate an alarm system and send a message to the owner. There is no worry with the frequent power outages and lack of electricity in some parts of the country since this system uses rechargeable dry cells.This idea, he says, came to his mind after they had a break-in and some of their valuables including a laptop were stolen. He has since then been developing it and he was recently sponsored to a competition by the National Council for Science and Technology, (NCST) which gives a platform to young innovators to showcase their innovations. His project was listed among the best and for this he got an award of Kshs. 400,000 to help him further improve his ideas. This innovation idea was recently shortlisted among the ten best out of 3,200 others in a competition in USA dubbed ‘Next Big Thing’.To ‘Engineer’ innovation comes not just as a part time activity but also as a dream and it is in this quest to realize his dream that has made him to defer his studies in order to have enough time for the innovation. He is yet to travel to USA for training. “Getting to this point has not been easy for me and the biggest challenge I face is criticism,” says Charles, “Whenever I present my ideas to people most of them discourage me and try to look for reasons why my ideas can’t work even when some of them do not have the knowledge in the field.” This, he says, can be compared with the patient who tries to convince the doctor that his

medication won’t work. Even with all these hurdles, Omondi has managed to beat all odds and actualize his ideas with continued improvements. He attributes his success hitherto to some of his friends and family who encourage him and urge him to move on. This is not a one-man journey and he has also inspired other students to follow his steps. A good number have shown interest in his innovations and he has helped them develop skills like welding, soldering and some machining operations. His future ambitions include opening up a company where innovations can be developed, prototypes manufactured and ideas actualized.He gets his inspiration from role models such as Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Larry Page and Sergey who are the founders of google and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. “In life you need someone to look up to and a mentor to guide you through and keep you strong,” adds Omondi.

Omondi challenges the other engineering students to be innovative and not just learn engineering for exam purposes but use it to get practical solutions to problems facing the society today. “When you learn about a transistor, do not just get the theory. Ask yourself what it can do to you because that is the very basis of engineering. Again, when you get a problem, try to find a solution to that problem.” He also advices them to embrace ICT as it provides a wider platform for creativity and innovation which would encourage them to be self reliant.Effort is currently being put by the government, private sector and other academic institutions to promote and encourage innovations in the country. Through provision of funds to people who have promising innovations and organizing of exhibitions, young innovators get a platform to showcase their ideas to potential investors. For us to realize this, we have to engage in innovations and however minor they may seem to be, they could cause a positive impact to the society. If well managed, they could also help curb unemployment hence mitigate poverty which is one of the national goals. Like Peter Drucker says, “Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.”

This innovation idea was recently shortlisted among the ten best out of 3,200 others in a competition in USA dubbed ‘Next Big Thing’.

Charles Omondi’sworkshop


Qualifications for registration as Professional or Consulting engineers.

16. Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person shall be eligible for registration under this Act as a professional or consulting engineer if—

(a) for a professional engineer, that person—

(i) is registered as a graduate engineer and has obtained practical experience as prescribed under this Act;

(ii) has passed professional assessment examination conducted by the Board; and

(iii) is a corporate member of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya;

(b) for a consulting engineer, that person—

(i) has practised in a specialized engineering field as a professional engineer for a period determined by the Board; and

( i i ) has achieved a s tandard of competence to enable him to practise as a consulting engineer in that particular specialization.

Application for registration.

17. (1) A person eligible to be registered as a professional or consulting engineer under section 16 may apply to the Registrar, in a prescribed form and on payment of prescribed fee, to be registered under this Act. (2 ) An appl icat ion made under subsection (1) shall be accompanied with certified copies of certificates and

other documents as are necessary to prove qualification for registration.

Qualifications for registration as graduate engineer.

18. Subject to provisions of this Act, a person shall be eligible for registration under this Act as a graduate engineer if that person—

(a) is a holder of a degree, diploma or its equivalent from a university, college or school of engineering or any other institution recognized by the Board;and

(b) is a citizen or a permanent resident of Kenya.


19. (1) A person eligible to be registered as a graduate engineer under section 18, may apply to the Registrar, in prescribed form and on payment of prescribed fee, to be registered under this Act.

(2 ) An appl ica t ion made under subsection (1) shall be accompanied with certified copies of certificates and other documents as are necessary to prove qualification for registration.

Registration of an engineering consulting firm.

20. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person may register an engineering consulting firm if—

(a) the firm has a certificate of registration of a business name or a certificate of incorporation;

(b) it has at least one partner or principal shareholder who is registered as

consulting engineer and who has a valid licence in a specified discipline;

(c) at least fifty one percent of the shares in the firm are held by a Kenyan citizen; and

(d) he fulfills any other condition as may be stipulated by the Board.

(2) The Board may register engineering consulting firms in different categories and disciplines based on a criteria as shall be established by the Board.


21. (1) A person who wishes to register an engineering consulting firm under section 20, may apply to the Registrar, in a prescribed form and on payment of a prescribed fee, to be registered under this Act.

(2) An application made under subsection (1) shall—

(a) be accompanied with such documents as are necessary to prove qualification for registration;

(b) provide the firm’s profile of activities;

(c) provide curriculum vitae of partners or directors; and

(d) be accompanied with a written commitment that the Board shall be allowed to verify the suitability of the firm for the purposes of registration.

(3) The Board may require the applicant to furnish such further information or evidence of eligibility for registration as it may consider necessary and may require the applicant to appear in person for an interview before the Board.

EXCERPTS OF THE ENGINEERS ACT

EBK

Ref. No: Date:


Restrictions on registration of foreigners.

22. A foreign person or firm shall not be registered as a professional engineer or consulting engineer or engineering consulting firm unless—

(a) in the case of a natural person—

(i) that person possesses the necessary qualifications recognized for the practice of engineering as a professional engineer in the country where he normally practises and that immediately before entering Kenya he was practising as a professional engineer and holds a valid licence; and

(ii) he is a resident of Kenya with a valid working permit;

(b) in the case of a firm, the firm is incorporated in Kenya and a minimum of fifty one percent of its shares are held by a Kenyan citizen.

Temporary registration.

23. (1) A foreign person may be considered for registration as a temporary professional engineer if that person satisfies the Board that—

(a) he is not ordinarily resident in Kenya;

(b) he intends to be present in Kenya in the capacity of professional engineer for the express purpose of carrying out specific work; and

( c ) he possesses the necessary qualifications recognised for the practice of engineering as a professional engineer in the country where he normally practises and that immediately before entering Kenya, was practising as a professional engineer and holds a valid licence from his country of origin.

(2) An application for registration under this section shall be in the prescribed form and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee as determined by the Board.

(3) The Board may require an applicant to appear before it where it is in the process of considering his application and shall require every applicant to produce documentary evidence of his work or employment immediately prior to entering in Kenya.

(4) The registration of a person under this section shall be valid for the period or for the duration of the work specified by the Board.

(5) Where the expertise skills of a person registered under this section are not available in Kenya, the Board shall notify the applicant and the applicant shall provide an undertaking that the locals shall be trained to fill the skills gap.

(6) Subject to subsection (4), the Board may approve temporary registration for such period not exceeding one calendar year.

Accredited checkers.

24. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Board may, upon application, register a person as an accredited checker with powers to review and verify the work of a professional engineer in ensuring that the work is adequate and complies with safety requirements.

(2) The Board may register a person as an accredited checker under subsection (1) if such person—

(a) is a professional engineer registered in the relevant discipline of engineering approved by the Board;

(b) has at least fifteen years relevant practical experience in design, and construction management; and

(c) satisfies the Board that by virtue of his ability, standing in the profession, special knowledge or practical experience, he is qualified to be registered under the Act.

(3) A person shall not perform functions or duties under this Act as an accredited

checker, unless that person is registered by the Board under this section.

Registration by the Board.

25. (1) The Registrar shall, so far as is practicable, bring every application before the Board for consideration at its first meeting after receiving the application.

(2) Where a person has complied with the provisions of this Act and has been accepted by the Board as being eligible for registration, that person shall be registered.

(3) The decision of the Board on an application for registration shall be communicated to the applicant by the Registrar by letter sent to the address stated in the application within twenty one working days from the date of the decision of the Board.

(4) After the name of a person is entered in the register, the Board shall issue a certificate that has been sealed with the seal of the Board to the person.

(5 ) The Board may i s sue o ther identification documents that are valid for a specified period to a person registered under this Act.

(6) A certificate of registration and other identification documents issued under this section shall remain the property of the Board.

(7) Where the Registrar is satisfied that a certificate of registration or any other document has been lost, mutilated or destroyed, he may, upon payment of a fee set by the Board, from time to time, furnish a duplicate of the certificate of registration or any other document to the person to whom the original certificate of registration or documents were issued.

Part IV to be pubished in the next issue

EBK


ACEK

Recommendation of Motion to Review IEK Constitution

Preparing for a special AGM to be held on 10th August 2012One of the recommendations of the AGM was to review the IEK constitution in a special AGM within 90 days. Below is a proposal from Association of Consulting Engineers in kenya (ACEK)

1. Appointment of Secretary (Cl 2.04)The Current position of the Secretary should be elevated to Executive officer withexpanded responsibilities of running the IEK secretariat.2. Election of chairman (Cl 9.03)The chairman should be elected directly by the members of the institution. Any eligible member seeking election must be nominated by one proposer, a seconder and ten (10) other members of the institution.The chairman should be elected for a

two year term and re-election permitted for a further single term of two years.3. Election of Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and Ordinary members of the council (Cl 9.07)All office bearers, that is, two vice-chairmen, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer should be elected directly by the members of the institution. The positions should be open to any eligible members and not through nomination by the council as it is currently done.

Any eligible member seeking election in any of the positions must be nominated by one proposer, a seconder and ten (10) other members of the institution.Three of the six ordinary members of the council should be elected directly by themembers.The remaining three slots shall be nominated by the incoming council taking into account; gender, different engineering disciplines etc4. Nominations by the council (Cl 9.08)This clause should be limited to the three ordinary members nominated by the council.5. Appointment of Scrutineers (Cl 9.11)At least three and not two scrutineers should be appointed.Reporting of the results of an election should be made to the AGM and not to the chairman of the institution.


DINNER DANCE

This year’s Engineers International Conference was held at the Lenana Hall at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre

. As it is the custom, the engineers get to end the three day event at the dance floor in an event dubbed “the dinner dance”. The event hosted by the Institution of Engineers of Kenya was this year held at the Intercontinal Hotel prior to Laico, the previous year. Held from 8pm, the dinner was graced by engineers who you could tell took their time in choosing from their wardrobe. A solemn entry into the well furnished room saw the guests settle at their respective tables. A customary toast to the president was the first thing done to open the ceremony. The newly elected chairman of IEK, Eng.Riungu opened the session by delivering his speech. He pointed to the engineers that they had a lot to do now that the country had been divided into counties. Among the resolutions he mentioned as his plans as the chairman of the IEK was to need to produce more engineers for the counties.

Breaking the Norm, Engineers Can Dance!

He also urged the already registered engineers to site themselves in the rural areas so as to bring development in those places.Engineers from Uganda, Nigeria and Chad who had attended the conference also graced the dinner, some in their traditional attires. After the chairman’s speech, they were presented with some token awards. He thanked them for their coming and participation and offered them some tokens of appreciation.Outgoing chairman, Eng.Wanjau was closed the speeches session after one presented by the sponsors of the event, Kenya Power. Having served the

institution for two years, he was awarded the Chairman’s award by the committee. In his remarks, he strongly stated that engineers should avoid making mistakes.An African menu graced the plates of those present now eagerly waiting for the dance. After the dinner, a toast was given to Eng.Wanjau for a job well done and another one by to the non-engineers present at the dinner. The dance floor was then opened.Perfoming live were the Kayamba Fiesta who with their electric African music got the engineers-customary assumed not to know how to dance-displaying their hidden talents on the dance floor.

Engineers dancing the night away at the dinner.

Engineers enjoying the dinner at Intercontinental Hotel


IEK

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATIONEng. J M Riungu ChairmanEng. M.Shiribwa MemberEng. R Chepkwony MemberEng. R K Kosgei MemberEng. M E Okonji Member

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEEEng. M E Okonji ChairmanEng. M Shiribwa MemberEng. S N Charagu MemberEng. Rosemary Kung’u MemberEng. W Okubo MemberEng. John Nyaguti Member

DISCIPLINE AND ARBITRATION COMMITTEEEng. Francis Ngokonyo MemberEng. Shem O Noah MemberEng. E Mwongera MemberEng. W Okubo Member

TRAINING COMMITTEEEng. J Riungu ChairmanEng. S Ouna SecretaryEng. C Ogut MemberEng. G. Njorohio MemberEng. P Okaka Member

JOURNAL COMMITTEE A A McCorkindale ChairmanF W Ngokonyo Vice-ChairmanN O Booker MemberJ N Kariuki MemberProf M Kashorda MemberS M Ngare MemberAllan Muhalia MemberA W Otsieno MemberS K Kibe MemberM Majiwa Member

WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENTEng. R Kosgei ChairmanEng. D M Wanjau MemberEng. J Riungu MemberEng. A Kosgei Member

INDUSTRIALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENTEng. H.S Amaje ChairmanEng. M.E .Okonji Vice Chair

POSITION NAMEChairman Eng. J M Riungu1st Vice Chairman Eng. R K Kosgei2nd Vice Chairman Eng. M E Okonji Hon. Secretary Eng. M ShiribwaHon. Treasurer Eng. R K ChepkwonyMember Eng. H J Nyaanga Member Eng. W R Okubo OGWMember Eng. R Kung’uMember Eng. C OgutMember Eng. H S AmajeMember Eng. J MutililiMember Eng. C JumaRetiring Past Chairman Eng. D M WanjauChairman Mombasa Branch Eng. Z AnganyaVice Chairman Mombasa Branch Eng. M OwuorBranch Sec/ Treasurer Mombasa Branch Eng. J O OdumbeChairman Western Branch Eng. P M WambuaVice Chairman Western Branch Eng. S K MahanuBranch Sec/Treasurer Western Kenya Eng. I Chebii

MEMBERS OF IEK COMMITTEES IEK COUNCIL


NEWS

NEWS


Date post:	28-Mar-2016
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Kenya Engineer Journal, July-August

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